In many medical facilities, the number of children with encephalitis, meningitis and Japanese encephalitis tends to increase. Late detection and delayed treatment leave many unfortunate consequences.
At the Tropical Disease Center, National Children's Hospital, NTT (7 years old, Nghe An) was paralyzed on the right side of his body, his body and left arm were shaking, and his perception was hazy. After 5 days of intensive treatment, T. no longer needed a ventilator, but the consequences of brain damage were still present and difficult to recover.
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| In many medical facilities, the number of cases of young children with encephalitis, meningitis and Japanese encephalitis tends to increase. |
Doctor Dao Huu Nam, Head of the Intensive Care Unit, Tropical Disease Center, shared that the child had severe brain damage. Four days before being admitted to the hospital, the child had a high fever, convulsions, then fell into a coma and was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis. The child has escaped the severe stage, but in the long term, there will be many difficulties related to brain damage, and he cannot urinate on his own.
Similarly, NDK (7 years old, in Thai Nguyen) was hospitalized for two days and was also diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis. Although his condition was milder, the patient's body was weak and his mind was not yet alert.
Ms. NTB (K.'s mother) said that before that, her child had a fever and was shaking all over at home and vomited every time he ate. On the first day, the family only gave her fever-reducing medicine but it was not effective and took her to the provincial hospital for examination. However, after 2 days of treatment, her child still had a continuous fever, so the family asked to transfer her to the Children's Hospital for treatment.
In K.'s case, Dr. Nam said that the child was discovered early and hospitalized promptly, so the condition did not worsen and the child recovered well.
Another case is a 12-year-old boy (in Phuc Tho, Hanoi). The patient had Japanese encephalitis, high fever, stiff neck, and unsteady walking. This is the first case of Japanese encephalitis in Hanoi this year.
According to Dr. Nam, since the beginning of the year, the hospital has recorded about 10 cases of Japanese encephalitis, more than 50 cases of encephalitis and hundreds of cases of meningitis caused by viruses and bacteria. Most of the children with Japanese encephalitis were hospitalized in very serious condition, with continuous high fever, convulsions, coma...
Common sequelae in children are quadriplegia and ventilator dependence in children with severe Japanese encephalitis. If the disease is mild or moderate, the child will be able to gradually recover.
According to information from Phu Tho Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, in the first week of June 2024 alone, the rate of pediatric patients hospitalized for this disease increased 5 times compared to the same period in 2023.
Experts warn that the weather in the North is hot, sometimes rainy and interspersed with cold air. This is a favorable condition for viruses and bacteria to thrive, attack and harm human health, especially young children.
Japanese encephalitis is dangerous because it can be transmitted through the respiratory tract and its initial symptoms can easily be confused with other diseases such as fever, vomiting, headache, etc. Many parents are subjective and ignore these warning symptoms, so when the child is taken to the hospital, the condition is already serious.
Japanese encephalitis has a high mortality rate, about 25% in tropical countries, and 50% of patients have neuropsychiatric sequelae.
If not treated properly and promptly, Japanese encephalitis can cause many serious complications that can lead to death. Complications such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, exhaustion, ulcers, respiratory failure, etc.
In addition, Japanese encephalitis in children leaves very serious sequelae, a burden for families and society. The sequelae include mental disorders, paralysis, language disorders, convulsions, epilepsy, bedridden...
Early detection is very important in treatment. Therefore, as soon as children show symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, vomiting, stiff neck, tinnitus, photophobia, etc., parents should immediately think of encephalitis, meningitis and take their children to see a doctor promptly.
Viral encephalitis has a high cure rate and leaves no sequelae. However, with bacterial meningitis, it depends on the cause, the patient's condition, whether he or she comes to the hospital early or late, and whether or not the treatment responds to medication.
If detected early and the child responds to medication, the child can recover completely; on the contrary, if the child does not respond to medication, has a systemic infection or is accompanied by an underlying disease, it can seriously affect the child's health.
The general way to prevent Japanese encephalitis in rural areas is to keep the environment clean, regularly clean the house, and clean the livestock pens to limit mosquito breeding places. If possible, the livestock pens should be moved away from the house and away from children's play areas.
In any rural or urban area, it is necessary to clear the sewers, avoid stagnant water, and not let broken tires, beer cans, and used soft drinks contain rainwater to limit mosquitoes from laying eggs and reproducing larvae (wrigglers) which are the offspring of mosquitoes.
Clean water containers must be covered to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs. Mosquito nets must be used when sleeping. Local health authorities must periodically spray insecticide.
The best prevention is to get vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis fully and on schedule. Vaccination is applied to adults and children of age (from 12 months of age and older).
To prevent meningitis, Dr. Tong Thi Ngoc Cam, Deputy Director of the Northern Medical Center, VNVC Vaccination System recommends that parents need to vaccinate their children fully and on schedule.
Vaccines that can prevent meningitis include the 6-in-1 vaccine Infanrix Hexa, Hexaxim, the 5-in-1 vaccine Pentaxim, vaccines against meningitis caused by pneumococcus bacteria (Synflorix and Prevenar 13 vaccines); vaccines against meningitis caused by meningococcus group BC (VA-Mengoc-BC vaccine), groups A, C, Y, W-135 (Menatra vaccine) and the new generation meningococcus B Bexsero; influenza vaccine.
Japanese encephalitis is a disease first discovered in Japan when it caused an epidemic in this country with a very high number of infections and deaths.
In 1935, Japanese scientists discovered that the cause of the disease was a virus named Japanese Encephalitis virus and from then on the disease was also called Japanese encephalitis.
In 1938, Japanese scientists discovered the role of the mosquito species Culex Tritaeniorhynchus in transmitting the disease, and then identified the main host and reservoir of the virus as pigs and birds.
In Vietnam, this species of mosquito often appears in hot months, living in bushes in the garden during the day, flying into houses at night to suck blood from livestock and bite people, usually between 6pm and 10pm. Mosquitoes like to lay eggs in rice fields and ditches.
The reason why the disease is common in the summer is because this is the favorable season for mosquitoes to develop and it is also the season when many types of ripe fruit attract birds from the forest to bring pathogens from the wild and then spread them to pigs and cattle near people and then to people.
In Vietnam, Japanese encephalitis was first recorded in 1952. Japanese encephalitis is endemic throughout the country, most prevalent in the northern delta and midland provinces. The outbreaks are mostly concentrated in areas with a lot of rice cultivation combined with pig farming or in the midland and semi-mountainous areas with a lot of fruit growing and pig farming.
Among animals living in close proximity to humans, pigs are considered the most important source of infection because the rate of Japanese encephalitis virus infection in pigs in the epidemic area is very high (about 80% of the pig herd). The appearance of Japanese encephalitis virus in pig blood occurs immediately after pigs are infected with the virus.
The duration of viremia in pigs lasts from 2 to 4 days with the amount of Japanese encephalitis virus in the blood being high enough to infect mosquitoes, which in turn transmit the disease to humans through bites.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/cham-dieu-tri-viem-nao-tre-mac-bien-chung-nang-d218866.html
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