EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

[Sally Furniss]

EV71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam: health official

A virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease has infected around 400 people in Vietnam this year and led to an unknown number of deaths, a health official in the communist country said Tuesday.
No precise data on cases and fatalities was available because enterovirus 71 or EV71 is not a notifiable disease in Vietnam, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Health Ministry's Preventive Medicine Department.
The intestinal virus, which hits children hardest because of their weaker immune system, has killed at least 26 children in neighbouring China and infected thousands more, raising fears it could spread across the region.
"Vietnam has had about 2,000 cases of hand, food and mouth disease this year, of which about 20 percent were caused by EV71," Nga told AFP, saying 90 percent of cases were in southern Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh City.
"There were some deaths involving the virus but we have no specific figure."
He said "children under 10 are the group most vulnerable to this disease."
The senior epidemiologist of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam, Dr Sean Tobin, said there was "no obvious association between the cases in China and those in Vietnam."
"As this is not a notifiable disease, there is no formal collection of data and no clear picture of the numbers in Vietnam," he said. "But reports from local health officials suggest that the number and severity of cases this year is higher."
Tobin said "the disease is recognized as an increasing public health problem" in Vietnam and added that local health authorities had asked the WHO for help "to determine options for monitoring and control."
EV71, which begins with fever, blisters, mouth ulcers and rashes, is highly contagious and spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or faeces of an infected person.


http://news.id.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1374943

 

[Shiloh]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

Source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/05/782120/

?Culprits? causing foot-hand-mouth epidemic named
22:22' 08/05/2008 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge ? Enterovirus 71 (group C1, C4, and C5) and Coxsackie virus/type A16 are the reasons for the foot-hand-mouth epidemic among children in southern Vietnam.

Scientists at HCM City-based Children?s Hospital No. 1, HCM City Pasteur Institute, Malaysia?s Sarawak University and Sibu Hospital and Australia?s Sydney University confirmed the above information yesterday, May 7.

Tests conducted on 763 child patients who were diagnosed with foot-hand-mouth disease at Children?s Hospital 1 revealed 411 as being infected with ?ultra-viruses?, accounting for 53.8%. A total of 216 cases were caused by Coxsackie virus/type A16; 173 cases by Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and 24 by other types of viruses. Of 183 cases caused by EV71, 51 cases developed into encephalitis with three deaths.

According to researchers, in the first half of 2007, three groups of EV71 virus (C1, C4 and C5) existed and C5 group was the major culprit in the second half of the year.

The Children?s Hospital 1 is pursuing its research of foot-hand-mouth disease and encephalitis caused by EV71 among children.

 

[Treyfish]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=numberdate vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#3a84fd height=16>Wednesday, May 07, 2008, Posted at: 17:01(GMT+7)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=thanh vAlign=top align=left>Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease Runs Amok</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tintop_text vAlign=top align=left>A potentially fatal strain of hand, foot and mouth disease is hospitalizing dozens of Vietnamese children under the age of five every day as its grip on the country tightens.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=1 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=Image>Symptoms of the disease are ulcers in the mouth, blisters on the palms and the soles of the feet</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

The situation is threatening to become as grave as in China, where the number of cases has nearly reached 16,000 and where 27 kids have died from the viral disease, the last death occurring on Tuesday in the central province of Hunan.
At the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, 21 of the 60 children treated there since the start of January developed neurological complications. One of the young patients died in February.
The hospital?s Dr. Nguyen Van Chau says they managed to save an eighteen-month-old child from Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta who had ulcers in her mouth, blisters on the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet, and a racing pulse of 170-190 beats per minute.
The other children?s hospitals are also admitting more children with hand, foot and mouth than last month and April 2007.
Around 3,000 cases of the disease have been reported since the year began, according to the Health Ministry, mostly from Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai to the city?s east, and Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta. Ten of the infected children are dead.
There have also been 66 reported cases in Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan on the central coast.
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh of Children?s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City says the number of children with hand, foot and mouth has doubled since March. It is admitting 30 to 35 infants with the disease every day.
What worries Dr. Khanh most is that more than 10 per cent of the young patients will develop dangerous neurological complications.
Dr. Tran Thi Viet of Children?s Hospital No. 2 notes that the disease arrived much earlier this year than in the past and that it usually peaks in July or November.

Pediatricians advise parents to take their children to hospital as soon as they observe anything wrong as hand, foot and mouth develops so rapidly that it can kill in 24 hours.
There is no vaccine against the disease so parents should pay careful attention to personal and food hygiene.:tiphat:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Health/2008/5/63083/

 

[Treyfish]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ds vAlign=top width=435 height=0>Last Updated: <!--2008-05-08 10:34:56 todaysDate = Date(08, 05, 08, 10, 34, 56); --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> dayarray = new Array("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday","Saturday"); montharray = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April","May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December"); todaysDate = new Date("May 08, 2008 10:34:56"); document.write(dayarray[todaysDate.getDay()] + ", " + montharray[todaysDate.getMonth()] + " " + todaysDate.getDate() + ", "); //if (todaysDate.getYear() < 1000){ //document.write(todaysDate.getYear() + 2000); //} else { document.write(todaysDate.getFullYear()); //} document.write(" 10:34:56 Vietnam (GMT+07)"); </SCRIPT>Thursday, May 8, 2008 10:34:56 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>Vietnam raises alert on EV71 virus after 10 children die

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="100%" colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=20 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left colSpan=2> </TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=cap align=left colSpan=2>A boy suspected of being infected with the deadly enterovirus 71 (EV71)</TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Vietnam’s prime minister has urged health authorities to fight a hand, foot and mouth disease outbreak caused by the EV71 virus which officials said Wednesday had killed at least 10 children in the country this year. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>
The intestinal virus, which hits children hardest, has infected around 400 children this year, mainly in southern Vietnam, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department.
“The virus killed at least 10 children in the first four months,” he told AFP, adding that no precise data was available because the enterovirus is not a reportable disease in the country.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged health officials nationwide to take urgent measures to fight the disease, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said.
The virus, which begins with fever, blisters, mouth ulcers and rashes, is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or feces of an infected person.
It has killed at least 28 children in neighboring China and infected thousands more, raising fears it could spread across the region.
“The virus is very contagious,” Nga said.
“There is a risk of infections from China through infected people moving between China and Vietnam.”:tiphat:

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=38359

 

[Shiloh]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=38483

Last Updated: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 13:59:54 Vietnam (GMT+07)

Hand-foot-mouth disease might proliferate: health agency
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is likely to spread countrywide, the Administration of Preventive Medicine has warned.

The number of patients, mostly children, was on the rise not only in the south but also in the north, Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the agency, said.

Head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Nguyen

Tran Hien, said since January this year nearly 3,000 children had contracted the disease, equaling the number for the whole of last year.

Ninety percent of the cases have been reported from the south, especially Dong Nai Province, where the number of children hospitalized has increased ten-fold compared to last year.

Hien said 10 percent of the reported cases were caused by the enterovirus 71 (or EV71) against which no vaccine was available in Vietnam, since hand-foot-and-mouth disease was new in the country.

Specific medication for the EV71-caused disease was not available either, he said.

At least 10 children have died in the first four months.

Hien urged parents to observe their children for symptoms like fever, blisters, mouth ulcers and rashes so that they could provide proper medication.

EV71 is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or feces of an infected person.

The ministry last week instructed departments of public health around the country to keep an eye on the disease outbreak and on environmental and food hygiene and safety at kindergartens and primary schools.

Reported by Lien Chau ? Lam Vu

 

[Shiloh]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01HEA130508

Hand, foot, mouth disease on the rise

(13-05-2008)

HCM CITY ? Cases of hand, food and mouth disease (HFMD) are on the rise in Viet Nam, director of Preventive Health and Environment Department Nguyen Huy Nga said yesterday.

Already this year, total cases topped 2,300, including 11 child-deaths, Nga said. About 90 per cent of victims were in southern provinces, especially HCM City. Last year only around 3,000 children were reported to have the disease.

The disease usually occurred in two regular spates from March until June and September to December, the director said. But because HFMD could spread very quickly, his department had started monitoring the potentially fatal disease in weekly reports.

Nga also said his department would co-operate with television stations to boost public awareness on the disease and how to prevent it.

Normally, parents could successfully treat their children at home but in the current situation it was better to send them to hospital, Nga said.

"HFMD is easily treated, but in more serious cases, the disease can damage the brain and heart, even resulting in death."

The director urged the public to prepare food and drink in a safe and hygienic way. Adults had to protect children from dirty environments. More staff would be trained to teach the public about the disease and ways to fight it, he added.

HCM City is a particular hot spot for the disease, with 1,000 cases reported at the city?s Paediatrics Hospital No 1 in HCM City and 800 in hospital No 2. The figures exclude patients being treated at home. If these were included the total could be from three to five times bigger, a doctor at one of the hospitals said.

"The figures show that the risk of a serious epidemic is very high. Most children are admitted with long lasting fever, nausea and vomiting. Their hands, feet and mouth are often covered with pus-filled blisters."

A recent study released by the HCM City Pasteur Institute revealed that 20 per cent of HFMD cases are caused by the virus EV71, a strain which infected thousands of children in neighbouring China, killing 30.

In response to the problem, the city has established a steering committee to fight the disease. Director of the municipal Health Department and president of the committee Nguyen Van Chau said to control the situation they would close kindergartens if two children or more caught the disease. They would even close the schools if one infant caught the disease and was in a serious condition, he said.

One reason for the increase in cases of EV71 could be the weather, deputy director of the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemics Pham Ngoc Dinh said.

Although there hadn?t been much research in the area, studies suggest that the EV71 virus seems to develop well in cool weather.

The cold front accompanied by La Nina may have been the catalyst for the virus spreading in China, Singapore, Viet Nam and other countries in Asia, the deputy director said. Educating people on how the virus was spread was crucial in the fight to control it, he added. There is currently no vaccine against the disease. ? VNS

 

[Shiloh]

Re: EV 71 virus has caused deaths in Vietnam

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02HEA190508

Rains lead to more infectious disease cases in HCM City

(19-05-2008)

HCM CITY ? The number of children stricken with parotitis and encephalitis is skyrocketing, while hand-foot-mouth disease and petechial fever are still not under control.

According to the HCM City?s Department of Health, in the first four month of this year?s incidence of petechial fever is over 2,000 cases, double the amount of the same period last year. Two children have succumbed to the disease this year.

The incidence of hand-foot-mouth disease is 755, of which 7 died. Children under 3 are most at risk of the illness, which is transmitted directly through patients? saliva, mucus and feces.

"Hand-foot-mouth disease has occurred in all the city?s districts. If we don?t have good measure to control it, this could become an epidemic," said Phan Van Nghiem, head of Administration Department of the HCM City Health Department.

The department will establish a steering committee to prevent and control hand-foot-mouth disease to cut back its incidence and mortality to rate lower than last year?s. In 2007, 3,460 children were diagnosed with the illness. Sixteen of them died.

Additional problems

According to the HCM City Pasteur Institute, the early start to the rainy season created ideal conditions for petechial fever, hand-foot-mouth disease and various respiratory diseases.

HCM City?s Pediatrics Hospital No 1?s respiratory faculty is now admitting 140-150 patients every day, twice last week?s number, according to Dr Tran Tuan Anh. Meanwhile, Pediatrics Hospital No 2 admits nearly 100 respiratory disease patients daily.About 80 per cent of the patients at both hospitals are under 2 years old, most of whom are diagnosed with bronchitis. Lung abscesses, pleurisy, asthma and other complications from pneumonia are also frequent.

Adding more cause for alarm, petechial fever with complications for liver, kidney and respiratory functioning is also on the rise.

So far this month, the number of childrens treated at both hospitals for varicella or encephalitis is 40 per cent higher than such rates during the dry season. ? VNS