Children requiring treatment for hand, foot and mouth disease, diarrhea and respiratory diseases have been overloading local hospitals since last week due to seasonal changes, says a doctor at the Children’s Hospital No I in Ho Chi Minh City.
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, Head of the Department of Infection and Neurology of the Children’s Hospital No I, said hand, foot and mouth disease in children is at its peak at the moment.
The hospital is now receiving 40-50 hand, foot and mouth cases each day and the 100-bed department can no longer accommodate the increasing number of young patients.
Moreover, about 10 percent of these patients are suffering from dangerous complications including neurological complications, hypertension and low blood pressure.
And the number of victims will continue to rise into next month, said Dr. Khanh.
Diarrhea has also had a hand in incapacitating the kids. In the Digestive Department of the Children’s Hospital No II, the number of diarrhea victims has increased day by day – a worrying development in light of the diarrhea/cholera epidemic still fading out in northern Viet Nam. Hospital staff are working round the clock to fight the condition.
Seasonal changes have also purportedly caused more children to be admitted to hospitals with respiratory diseases, including inflammations of the bronchi and lungs, lung abscesses and asthma, said Dr. Tran Anh Tuan, Head of the Respiratory Department of the Children’s Hospital No I.
Most of the patients are children under one year old with weak resistance to infections, said Dr. Tuan, who suggests parents keep children warm and bring them to local hospitals if they show symptoms like loss of appetite, difficult breathing or sleeping too much.
