A chickenpox patient being treated. (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) –
The number of in the southern region has been increasing in recent days, with
many newborn babies getting infected.
The chickenpox season
begins in February and lasts until June, peaking in May and June, said Truong
Huu Khanh, head of the No 1’s infection and
neurology department.
Since February, the
hospital has been admitting an average of seven to nine children every week,
Khanh said.
Many children under three
months of age, including a nine-day-old patient, contracted the disease from
their mothers, he said.
To Minh Trang of Long An province
said that she had contracted chickenpox four days before delivering her baby.
Nine days later her newborn
baby developed symptoms of chickenpox with blisters on the face, hand and feet.
Newborn babies are highly
vulnerable, and the in newborns is very high at 25-30 percent,
Khanh said.
He advised that women of
child-bearing age and children should get the .
Nguyen Tran Nam, head of
the infection ward, said the number of outpatients with chickenpox too has
soared in the past few days.
The illness is usually mild
but it can be dangerous for some people such as pregnant women, newborn babies
and people with weakened immune systems.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
