Dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth diseases continue their spread in Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas, hospitalising hundreds of people.
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| The number of hand-foot-mouth and dengue fever patients is on the rise |
According to the municipal Centre for Provision Health, over 20 children in the city are sent to hospital per day due to the plague of hand-foot-mouth disease.
Currently, over 200 children are undergoing inpatient treatment at Paediatrics and Tropical Diseases Hospitals, the centre said, noting that the number of patients is on the rise.
Also, the cases are more serious, which drives up the cost of medical spending. One hand-foot-mouth patient who suffered from serious complication had to pay up to between VND44 million and VND57 million (USD2,128-USD2,757) for treatment.
Dengue fever is also ravaging southern locations, including HCM City. Nhi Dong 1 Hospital receives around 100 dengue fever patents per day. Almost all of them are children, 20% of whom develop serious complications.
In the meantime, Nhi Dong 2 Hospital receives nearly 300 dengue fever patients per day. The sharp rise in the number of patients has lead to overcrowding at the hospital.
Doctor Trinh Huu Tung from Nhi Dong 2 Hospital said, “Not like the previous years, the number of hand-foot-mouth cases hasn\'t yet shown any signs of falling off. The disease will likely continue to plague the region through September and November."
The city has assigned six inspection groups that are responsible for monitoring the development of these two diseases in the city, said Doctor Tran Phu Manh Sieu, Director of the municipal Centre for Provision Health.
They will advise residents on methods to prevent and control these diseases, Sieu added.
In the middle of July, the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City claimed that 50 out of 15,000 patients infected with hand-foot-mouth disease in southern Vietnam have died this year, three times the death toll from the same period last year.