Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01HEA191108
Dengue outbreak follows flooding
(19-11-2008)
HA NOI ? Hospitals in Ha Noi have treated more than 500 dengue-fever cases and 500 cases of eye infections during the past two weeks, causing alarm over outbreaks of water-borne diseases following recent floods in the capital.
Hospitals report that the number of patients, mainly young people, is two times higher than the same period last year. Many of these recent cases are serious, said Bui Nguyen Kiem, the head of Saint Paul Hospital?s Internal Medicine Department No 2, which treats seven dengue-fever cases every day.
Kiem said many of the patients did not use mosquito nets at night and delayed their visit to the hospital instead of checking in as soon as they had fever symptoms.
"The initial symptoms of this fever are similar to other kinds of fevers, so many people were only taken to the hospital when their fevers became serious and difficult to treat," said Kiem.
One patient says he thought he had contracted a ?normal? fever.
"My temperature was high and I felt cold for several days," said 26 year-old Vu Kim Anh from Giai Phong Street. "I stayed at home because I thought it was a normal fever.
"Then, when I passed out one day, my parents took me to the hospital."
Eye infections have also risen, as the recent floods in Ha Noi have polluted some water sources, said doctor Le Xuan Cung from the National Eye Hospital.
Eye infections are easy to treat, but only when detected early. "If the infection isn?t treated in a timely way, the condition can become quite serious," said Cung.
Doctors recommend people use mosquito nets when they go to sleep and keep their living environment dry and clean to eradicate all conditions which could promote the disease vectors to reproduce and develop.
People should also use eye drop medicine to prevent eye infections. ? VNS
Dengue outbreak follows flooding
(19-11-2008)
HA NOI ? Hospitals in Ha Noi have treated more than 500 dengue-fever cases and 500 cases of eye infections during the past two weeks, causing alarm over outbreaks of water-borne diseases following recent floods in the capital.
Hospitals report that the number of patients, mainly young people, is two times higher than the same period last year. Many of these recent cases are serious, said Bui Nguyen Kiem, the head of Saint Paul Hospital?s Internal Medicine Department No 2, which treats seven dengue-fever cases every day.
Kiem said many of the patients did not use mosquito nets at night and delayed their visit to the hospital instead of checking in as soon as they had fever symptoms.
"The initial symptoms of this fever are similar to other kinds of fevers, so many people were only taken to the hospital when their fevers became serious and difficult to treat," said Kiem.
One patient says he thought he had contracted a ?normal? fever.
"My temperature was high and I felt cold for several days," said 26 year-old Vu Kim Anh from Giai Phong Street. "I stayed at home because I thought it was a normal fever.
"Then, when I passed out one day, my parents took me to the hospital."
Eye infections have also risen, as the recent floods in Ha Noi have polluted some water sources, said doctor Le Xuan Cung from the National Eye Hospital.
Eye infections are easy to treat, but only when detected early. "If the infection isn?t treated in a timely way, the condition can become quite serious," said Cung.
Doctors recommend people use mosquito nets when they go to sleep and keep their living environment dry and clean to eradicate all conditions which could promote the disease vectors to reproduce and develop.
People should also use eye drop medicine to prevent eye infections. ? VNS