The first case of Japanese encephalitis recorded this year in Hanoi was a 5-year-old boy in Phuc Tho district.
According to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, the child first showed symptoms on September 19: high fever, headache, fatigue, etc. On September 25, the child was admitted to the National Children's Hospital for inpatient treatment. Here, the child's sample was taken for testing and the result was positive for Japanese encephalitis virus.
The Center for Tropical Diseases (National Children's Hospital) said that Japanese encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain tissue caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus. This is the leading virus causing encephalitis in Asia, including Vietnam.
The disease can occur at any age but is common in young children (under 15 years old) and most common in children aged 2-8.
Early recognition of Japanese encephalitis symptoms so children can be hospitalized promptly
TL NATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Japanese encephalitis is considered one of the most dangerous diseases, with a high mortality rate and sequelae in young children (from 25 - 35%). These sequelae cause the patient to have reduced communication ability and reduced or lost ability to work.
Most mothers whose older children have contracted Japanese encephalitis assume that their children have been fully vaccinated with three doses up to the age of two, so they are complacent. But that is also one of the mistakes that has led to an increase in older children contracting the disease.
"In order to take children to the hospital in time, parents need to know the symptoms and early signs of Japanese encephalitis," a treating doctor at the Center for Tropical Diseases noted.
Warning signs of encephalitis
According to doctors, when children have a fever, parents often think of a common viral fever and buy fever-reducing medicine for their children. However, if they have a common viral fever, after taking the medicine and reducing the fever, the child will be able to function and play normally.
But with Japanese encephalitis, in the first 1-2 days, children often have symptoms such as fever but also increasing headache, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. "Of the above symptoms, fever and vomiting are the most commonly confused symptoms for parents," noted a treating doctor at the Center for Tropical Diseases.
When children vomit, many mothers think that their children have digestive disorders or coughs, so they vomit. Therefore, many people give their children digestive enzymes, cough medicine, and anti-vomiting drugs in the hope of reducing their vomiting.
"But in reality, when children vomit with fever and increasing headache, it is a symptom of encephalitis. Mothers do not realize this until their children have typical symptoms such as severe headache, high fever, and convulsions, and then take them to the hospital, causing the child's illness to become more severe, making treatment more difficult and increasing the risk of complications," the infectious disease specialist noted.
Japanese encephalitis virus usually attacks young children. Patients may develop early complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
Early sequelae of this disease may include paralysis or hemiplegia, loss of language, motor coordination disorders, and severe memory loss. Late sequelae may include epilepsy, hearing loss or deafness, and mental disorders.
There have been children who were hospitalized late, suffered very serious complications, and lost consciousness completely; or there were children who were still conscious but could not move.
National Children's Hospital
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