The reoccurence of virus Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a common cause of life-threatening illnesses for hand-foot-mouth (HFMD) patients, has made the disease dangerous and could easily spread into an outbreak. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The reoccurrence of virus Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a
common cause of life-threatening illnesses for hand-foot-mouth (HFMD) patients,
has made the disease dangerous and could easily spread into an outbreak, health
experts have said.
Speaking at the recent online seminar on the abnormal
development of the HFMD hosted by online newspaper Vietnamplus, health experts
said all six deaths had tested positive for EV71.
HFMD caused by virus EV71 is likely to cause illnesses
ranging from mild to serious with and pulmonary
complications, respiratory and heart failure that can lead to death. EV71 was
the virus that caused HFMD in 2011 with 70,000 cases of infection and
150 deaths, they said.
Phan Trong Lan, Director of HCM City’s Pasteur Institute said
the HFMD was at its peak with more than 53,000 infected patients in the first
nine months of this year.
Although the number of infection decreased compared to the
same period of last year, the amount of deaths rose.
In HCM City’s Children No1 Hospital, the number of patients
hospitalised for the disease has increased five times in the past three weeks
leaving the hospital overcrowded.
Hanoi-based Vietnam-Cuba Hospital has received eight to ten
HFDM patients each day recently.
The number of patients with serious illness stayed high in
HCM City, posing the risk of outbreaks if preventive measures were not taken.
Lan said most of the six dead children were due to the
disease were treated at home rather than going to the hospitals when showing
symptoms of infection.
He said HFMD was commonly caused by the Coxsackie virus (A16)
and Enterovirus (EV17). A16 was mild while EV71 could cause neurological
complications, which was five times higher than other types of virus caused by
the disease.
In the outbreak in 2011, 85 percent of deaths were positive
with the virus.
There was currently no vaccine to protect against HFMD and
going to hospital for treatment was the best solution to avoid complications if
patients showed signs of infection.
In reply to questions on preventive measures, Dr Pham Hung,
representative of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Preventive Medicine, said
the ministry has issued guidelines on HFMD treatment to all hospitals and
health clinics nationwide.
It has also asked localities to implement treatment protocols
and ensure sufficient facilities and medicines to minimise cases of
complications and mortality.
Nguyen Thi Anh Xuan, head of Vietnam-Cuba Hospital’s
Peadiatrics Department said HFMD mainly affected children, especially those
under three years old as it was a viral infection transmitted via digestion.
They also recommended preventive measures be carried out at
schools to avoid infection among children.-VNS/VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
