The recent unsettling weather conditions are proving conducive for the spread of diseases, with many hospitals admitting children as well the elderly for all kinds of ailments.
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Infectious Ward at Paediatrics Hospital No1 said within the past few days, the number of child patients had increased sharply. The number of children contracting hand-foot-mouth disease was 100 whilst the hospital just had 80 sickbeds. Some of the children had to receive artificial respiration.
The same situation occurred in the Dengue Fever Department of Paediatrics Hospital No1. Tens of children are presently receiving treatment at the hospital.
A nurse said that this was not the season for infectious diseases, yet each day the hospital receives more than 50 dengue fever patients, compared to only 20-30 patients last week.
Also, the number of patients suffering from diarrhoea and requiring hospitalization has increased to three per sickbed.
At the Paediatrics Hospital No2, Dr. Le Thi Thanh Thuy of Infectious Ward said 100 children are receiving treatment for diseases related to digestion, of which 60 cases are of diarrhoea.
Dr. Pham Thi Ngoc Tuyet, head of the hospital Digestive Ward, said stale and unhygienic food was the main reason for the sudden spurt of cases. The hot weather had also played a part, decreasing children's resistance and putrefying food.
Dr. Nguyen Dac Tho, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Preventive Medicine Centre, said that during ten days of May, the city had seen three deaths due to hand-foot-mouth disease, increasing the total number of deaths to nine since the beginning of the year. So far, 1,000 cases of the disease have been recorded.
By late afternoon, the National Paediatrics Hospital was already overflowing with patients. Many patients and their families sat in the hospital’s large hall, waiting for their turn to consult a doctor.
Dr. Le Thanh Hai, director of the National Paediatrics Hospital said that even on sunny days, the hospital received more than 2,000-3,000 children per day.
Meanwhile in Hanoi, many hospitals such as Bach Mai, Xanh Pon and Thanh Nhan are overflowing with a huge number of patients arriving for treatment every day.
Medical experts have recommended that children should be sent immediately to hospital if they show symptoms such as small red spots or blisters in the mouth or on the hands, feet, knees and hips.
According to the Preventive Medicine Centre, since early this year, 13,000 people with dengue fever disease have been treated. In Hanoi, the number of people with dengue fever increased by 20% compared to the same period last year.
