Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

[Treyfish]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ds vAlign=top width=435 height=0>Friday, November 2, 2007 16:24:35 Vietnam (GMT+07) </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!--This begin of the news --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%" colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%" height=30> E-mail to a friend </TD><TD width="50%">Print version</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Diarrhea epidemic in north blamed on 40 different pathogens
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</TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=cap align=left colSpan=2></TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>More than 40 different pathogens have been identified as causing the diarrhea epidemic in the northern region which saw 200 patients hospitalized in Hanoi as of yesterday.

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>Experts from the Ministry of Health's Treatment Training Course said almost all of them were resistant to normal antibiotics though the next generation of antibiotics worked.
The first symptom of the disease was frequent, loose, watery bowel movements.
The other places in its grip are Hai Phong City and the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen and Ha Tay.
The ministry is using Chloramine B and other chemicals to disinfect the surroundings in these areas.:tiphat: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=33056
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[Treyfish]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Acute diarrhea pandemic puts northern Vietnam on red alert
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>The Vietnamese Ministry of Health held a conference Tuesday to announce a critical pandemic of acute diarrhea which hit the northern region one week ago.
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Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan said that up to 36 patients have been hospitalized due to symptoms including frequent and excessive bowel movements, vomiting and dehydration.
Huan said health authorities have been trying to tackle the epidemic by delivering sterilization kits to every patient's house, pasteurizing water sources and treating victims with antibiotics.
The ministry said diarrhea spreads very fast and there would be more infections unless serious measures were taken.
Still, this disease is not hard to cure with appropriate treatment and prevention.
Hanoi is now the most severely affected area with 30 cases.
The city's Health Department said the patients aged from 25 to 77 years old and all of them had recently eaten shrimp paste bought in open markets.
Le Anh Tuan, Director of the Health Department, said researchers have not yet been able to specify whether the pandemic was of cholera, dysentery or typhoid but he noted that people could easily prevent the disease by only consuming safe and hygienic food.
Acute diarrhea is fatal due to the rapid dehydration and electrolyte loss that can accompany it, which leads to a dramatic decrease in blood pressure.
Without proper care, a patient can die in one or two days.:tiphat: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=32991<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ds vAlign=top width=435 height=0></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!--This begin of the news --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%" colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%" height=30>javascript:openwindowopt('http://ww...ties/email.php?catid=8&newsid=33022',400,460)</TD><TD width="50%">http://www.thanhniennews.com/print.php?catid=8&newsid=33022</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Severe diarrhea cases double Thursday, November 1, 2007 17:19:33 Vietnam (GMT+07)
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>A total of 30 people in some northern cities and provinces were hospitalized yesterday with severe diarrhea, doubling the number of patients since Tuesday.</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>

The head of the Preventive Health Bureau, Nguyen Huy Nga, said a total of 66 patients had been hospitalized due to the disease. The number on Tuesday was 36.
He said the epidemic was being spread by poor food.
Local authorities had earlier warned locals against shrimp paste, but many of the yesterday's cases said they had eaten the food.
The bureau has told the health agencies in the worst hit areas of Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Ha Tay and Hai Phong to monitor water hygiene standards.
The agencies will educate residents and contractors not to dump wastes near lakes or ponds.
The Vietnam Drug Administration has instructed local health bodies to store adequate drugs and antibiotics to ease the problem.:tiphat: ​

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[Treyfish]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

HANOI, has pigs dying from blue ear disease...<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ds vAlign=top width=435 height=0>Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:22:21 Vietnam (GMT+07) </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!--This begin of the news --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%" colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%" height=30>javascript:openwindowopt('http://ww...ties/email.php?catid=8&newsid=32992',400,460)</TD><TD width="50%">http://www.thanhniennews.com/print.php?catid=8&newsid=32992</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Blue-eared pig disease spreads to Hanoi
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</TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=cap align=left colSpan=2></TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Blue-eared pig disease, which has ravaged swine populations in central and southern Vietnam, has spread to Hanoi, the Department of Animal Health of Vietnam said Tuesday...<snip>,, :tiphat: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=32992</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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[Treyfish]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Diarrhea epidemic spreads
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</TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=cap align=left colSpan=2></TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The prime minister Friday urged relevant agencies to spread information about the diarrhea epidemic nation-wide and help people prevent the disease by ensuring food is safe and hygienic. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>The epidemic caused some 200 patients to be hospitalized in northern Vietnam for the past few days.
Supervision will be intensified in affected areas, markets and restaurants.
Hospitals and medical clinics were instructed to stock enough medicine to give effective treatment.
Deputy Minister of Health, Trinh Quan Huan, said at a conference yesterday that the epidemic has been spreading very fast so prevention has to be ready nationwide, not only in the affected area.
The epidemic has spread over eight provinces in the north yesterday, including Hanoi, Ha Tay, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Phu Tho and Thai Binh.
The capital has 130 patients, the most in the eight affected areas.
?More patients have been hospitalized recently.
Most are working age and they had eaten seafood.
Infections were found in 13 out of 14 precincts of the district,? the Director of the Standby Health Center in Hanoi's Hoang Mai District, Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh said.:tiphat: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=33107
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[Treyfish]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=numberdate vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#3a84fd height=16>Friday , Nov 02, 2007, Posted at: 17:11(GMT+7)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=thanh vAlign=top align=left>Ha Noi Focuses on Fight against Raging Acute Diarrhea</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tintop_text vAlign=top align=left>Faced with rapidly spreading acute diarrhea, Hanoi People?s Committee Chairman Nguyen The Thao yesterday held an emergency meeting to discuss effective prevention and divert relevant departments and local authorities from their current work to help fight the capital?s excretory epidemic.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=1 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=Image>A patient diagnosed with acute diarrhea on a trolley at Ha Noi's National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

Burgeoning numbers of patients diagnosed with acute diarrhea, mostly Hanoians, have caused a shortage of beds at Ha Noi?s National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, said the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Ha Noi is now seen as the epicenter of the epidemic, thus impelling city authorities to shift their concentration to prevention.
The MoH has established a steering committee to rally national resources to the mission of delivering disinfectants and medicine.
Water plants have been directed to put more chlorine in water supplies to reduce levels of diarrhea-inducing bacteria.
Public announcements are encouraging residents to eat only well-cooked food, boil water, and avoid consuming dodgy-looking dishes sold on streets.
The MoH has also requested a ban on shrimp paste in processed food, restaurants, inns and street cafes.
At a meeting yesterday, Viet Nam?s Prime Minister directed relevant departments and authorities to collaborate in protecting community health and to immediately intensify health and hygiene inspections at food processing plants, supermarkets, commercial centers and bigger street markets.
Following widespread patient testing, the National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases Deputy Director Dr. Nguyen Hong Ha said 40 different pathogenic organisms had been found in 50 samples of northern Vietnamese patients, among them many pathogens evolving into increasingly complex forms.
Ha did however say he believes suitably treated patients will be effectively cured.
To prevent the epidemic?s spread, hospitals have isolated diarrhea patients and waived their fees.:tiphat:
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http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Health/2007/11/59225/

 

[Commonground]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

Vietnam, WHO work to stop acute diarrhea outbreak
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-23
HANOI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to continue their efforts to rapidly identify and treat cases of severe acute watery diarrhea, a WHO press release said here on Wednesday.

The measures include strengthening inspection of commercial food vendors to improve food safety standards, disinfection of the household environment of cases, maintaining the supply of safe water, and public information campaigns with key messages on reducing personal risk through improved food safety and personal hygiene, said the release.

The WHO recommends that the measures introduced in response to the current outbreak in Vietnam be continued in the future and become routine practice. In particular, the organization recommends the widespread promotion and adoption of five keys to safer food which remain important for the prevention of food-borne and water-borne diseases.

The keys include keeping clean, particularly by hand washing with soap before handling food and after going to the toilet; separating raw and cooked food; especially high risk food like raw meat, poultry and seafood; cooking food thoroughly; keeping food at safe temperatures; and using chlorinated or boiled water for consumption and for cleaning of raw food.

The WHO has been working closely with the ministry to respond to the current outbreak of severe acute watery diarrhea in which a number of local people have tested positive to the cholera bacteria since October 2007 when the first wave of cases was reported in the country, said the release.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/23/content_8035799.htm

 

[Commonground]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

Acute diarrhea spreads to 20 Vietnamese localities
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-23

HANOI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Acute diarrhea has spread to 20 cities and provinces across Vietnam since early March, affecting 2,490 people, of whom 377 have been tested positive to cholera virus, according to local newspaper People on Wednesday.

Hanoi capital is hardest hit with 1,032 acute diarrhea infection cases, followed by northern Ha Tay province with 691 cases, the paper quoted the Vietnamese Ministry of Health as reporting.

The country's health sector has conducted effective treatment to ensure no fatalities from the disease, said the World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Representative in Vietnam Jean-Marc Olive.



He has urged the government to take measures to ensure food safety in order to eliminate the disease's current outbreak.

However, the WHO has warned high risk of an outbreak in the country in the upcoming rainy season.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/23/content_8034927.htm

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Diarrhea epidemic - Vietnam

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUCkC1SvBrK4&refer=home
Dog Meat May Be Spreading Vietnam's Cholera Outbreak (Update1)

By Simeon Bennett and Van Nguyen

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Contaminated dog meat, lax food hygiene practices and the use of human feces as fertilizer may be spreading Vietnam's worst cholera outbreak in at least a decade, health officials said.

Eating dog meat or other food from outlets that serve it is linked to a 20-fold increase in the risk of developing the severe acute watery diarrhea commonly caused by the cholera bacterium, said Jean-Marc Olive, the World Health Organization's representative in Vietnam. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the outbreak, he said.

``Cholera may become endemic if this continues,'' Olive said by telephone from Hanoi today. Wetter and warmer weather expected in northern Vietnam from August to November may exacerbate the problem, he said.

The disease highlights problems with basic sanitation in Vietnam, where economic growth in excess of 8 percent last year drew people from provinces to the cities. Cholera, rarely seen in industrialized countries for a century, ``remains a global threat to public health,'' the WHO said in an August report.

Cholera, which is treated with fluid and salt replacements and antibiotics, often causes mild or no symptoms. About 20 percent of patients develop profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps. Rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock.

The most recent spate of cases is a fresh wave of an outbreak that started in October, Olive said. Contaminated shrimp sauce caused at least 157 cholera cases in November and December, Vietnam's health ministry said last year.

Human Excrement

Unhygienic practices, including the use of unwashed vegetables from fields fertilized with human excrement, may also be fueling the spread, Olive said. Vietnam's government banned human feces as fertilizer in 1994, a government spokesman said.

Since March 5, 2,490 cases of severe acute watery diarrhea have been reported, mostly in the capital, Hanoi, the WHO said in an April 22 statement on its Web site. Of those, 377 patients tested positive for cholera. None one of the cases was fatal.

In Hanoi, more than 1,000 cases of acute diarrhea have been recorded, the most in half a century, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the health ministry's Preventive Medicine Department.

``The cause of the acute diarrhea is a mystery,'' Nga said in a telephone interview today. Uncooked vegetables, dog meat and shrimp sauce were the most likely causes, he said.

Health ministry inspectors shut 63 out of 100 shops selling dog meat in Hanoi and neighboring Ha Dong city last week, Vietnam News reported today, without saying where it got the information.

Shrimp Sauce

Four of five restaurants serving dog meat on Hanoi's Nhat Tan Street, the city's so-called ``dog-meat street,'' were closed after inspectors found dirty chopping boards, unwashed vegetables and shrimp sauce in dirty containers, the report said. In Ha Dong city, 23 dog butchers whose clients are mainly in Hanoi were shut down.

More closures are expected, today's Vietnam News report quoted Tran Dang, director of the food hygiene and safety department, as saying.

To curb the spread, the ministry is stressing better food hygiene and sanitation, water sterilization and isolating patients, Nga said.

Some Vietnamese believe that consuming dog and duck meat in the second half of the lunar month will ward off bad luck. Today is the 18th day of the third lunar month.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 23, 2008 06:17 EDT