More deaths from seasonal flu

The World Health Organization has warned that influenza A/H1N1 can be fatal in people with chronic diseases or weakened immune systems.

Deaths from influenza A/H1pdm

Information from the health sector said that in Binh Dinh province, there was a death due to influenza A/H1pdm infection. Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, said that this male patient was infected with a common seasonal flu strain. This flu virus was first discovered during the 2009 flu pandemic and is called pandemic09 (pdm).

The World Health Organization has warned that influenza A/H1N1 can be fatal in people with chronic diseases or weakened immune systems.

According to Mr. Duc, influenza A is one of the common strains of influenza virus, causing acute respiratory infections.

This virus has the ability to spread rapidly in the community, especially through droplets from the nose and mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes or through direct contact with objects contaminated with the virus, which then spreads through the nose and throat.

In addition to the A/H1N1 influenza virus strain, other major influenza virus strains that cause seasonal flu include A/H3N2, influenza B, and influenza C.

The A/H1N1 flu virus caused a global pandemic in 2009, infecting millions of people. The danger level of A/H1N1 flu is not as high as that of avian flu A/H5N1 or A/H7N9, but it can cause severe pneumonia, respiratory failure and death, especially in people with underlying diseases or weak immune systems.

In Vietnam, the first case of A/H1N1 flu was recorded in May 2009. Since then, A/H1N1 flu has circulated in the community, with the potential to break out into small epidemics.

The World Health Organization has warned that influenza A/H1N1 can be fatal in people with chronic diseases or weakened immune systems. Each year, the world records about 250,000-500,000 flu-related deaths, of which influenza A/H1N1 is one of the common agents.

According to experts, infectious disease patterns change, not seasonally. The flu virus mutates into a new strain every year, so scientists are constantly updating and researching to produce vaccines to prevent the disease.

This is why flu vaccines usually have short-term immunity, only effective for about 1 year, and people are recommended to get a flu vaccine booster after 1 year.

Seasonal flu is usually benign but in some cases can progress to severe symptoms such as high fever, difficulty breathing, pulmonary edema due to heart failure, and can even cause death.

Therefore, people over 50 years old, immunocompromised, with underlying diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, COPD, children... should get vaccinated every year.

The Ministry of Health said that it is currently the time of changing seasons, favorable for the development of respiratory pathogens, especially seasonal flu.

The best preventive measure is to get vaccinated against influenza every year and follow personal hygiene measures, avoiding close contact with sick people. When experiencing flu symptoms, especially high fever and body aches, people should see a doctor early for timely diagnosis and treatment to avoid dangerous complications.

Burden of non-communicable diseases in Vietnam

Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health, emphasized that Vietnam is facing a dual disease model. In addition to having to deal with emerging infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, COPD, mental health disorders, etc. are also on the rise.

According to the latest reports, the mortality rate caused by non-communicable diseases accounts for 84% of total deaths in Vietnam. This is a worrying figure, showing the burden that these chronic diseases are causing on the health system and society.

Non-communicable diseases are also challenges not only in Vietnam but also globally. In terms of public health, these diseases are increasing in both the number of cases and severity, greatly affecting public health.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, air pollution, climate change and modern lifestyle have increased the risk of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchial asthma, and viral pneumonia.

In particular, after the Covid-19 pandemic, the fragility of the healthcare system against respiratory diseases has become more evident, while emphasizing the importance of prevention and early treatment.

To cope with the above challenges, the Ministry of Health has developed and is implementing strategies and plans, aiming to improve the health of the entire population.

At the ongoing National Assembly session, the draft revised Law on Health Insurance and the revised Law on Pharmacy are expected to be considered for approval.

The Ministry of Health will continue to improve the Law on Health Insurance in the direction of proposing that the health insurance fund pay for screening for early detection of some common diseases such as breast cancer and cervical cancer to reduce the mortality rate due to non-communicable diseases.

According to experts, in Vietnam, non-communicable diseases are the group of diseases with the highest morbidity and mortality rates. Out of every 10 deaths, more than 8 people have cardiovascular disease or diabetes, cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

It is estimated that each year in our country, about 17 million adults have high blood pressure; 4.6 million people have diabetes; 2-6 million people have chronic heart and lung disease and more than 182,000 new cases of cancer.

The reason is that people are not aware of disease prevention and do not have the habit of regular health check-ups. The rate of people with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular risk, cancer, and mental illness that are detected early and managed for treatment is still low.

More than 85,000 deaths each year due to tobacco

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Fund for Prevention of Tobacco Harms (Ministry of Health), currently in Vietnam there are 25 diseases related to tobacco use such as: stroke, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer... which are the leading causes of death.

According to research by K Hospital, the rate of lung cancer patients related to smoking is 96.8%.

Tobacco causes more than 85,500 deaths each year. In addition, passive smoking causes about 18,800 deaths each year.

At the Department of Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine, Hospital 19-8 (Ministry of Public Security), on average, there are about 100 people coming for examination every day, many of whom have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, especially lung cancer.

Lung cancer patients are getting younger and younger, the rate of women with lung cancer is increasing compared to before. The causes of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are mostly related to smoking, especially passive smoking.

Dr. Dinh Thi Hoa, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital 19-8, said that if 15 years ago, for every 10 cases of respiratory examination, 1-2 cases of lung cancer were detected, this was considered a lot, but now, this ratio is 5/5, even up to 7/10 cases.

The Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine added that lung cancer is a very painful problem, requiring clinicians to race against time to diagnose the disease stage earlier for patients.

Currently, all the newest and most advanced techniques of world medicine focus on minimal invasion to help patients, especially in early diagnosis of disease.

In addition, lung cancer prevention by quitting smoking, maintaining a scientific lifestyle, exercising regularly and lung cancer screening is very important.

Tobacco is a silent killer as it is the main cause of lung cancer and many other dangerous diseases.

To protect people's health, the Ministry of Health has proposed measures to reduce the demand for tobacco such as increasing tobacco taxes, preventing the use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, promoting smoke-free environments, changing health warnings on tobacco product packaging, supporting smoking cessation, and banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tin-moi-y-te-ngay-2410-them-truong-hop-tu-vong-do-cum-mua-d228195.html