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Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong speaks |
Reporting to the working group, Dr. Nguyen Vu Thuong, Deputy Director of the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, said that through the infectious disease surveillance system in 20 southern provinces and cities, about 9,000 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease were recorded in the first 5 months of this year, an average of about 400 cases per week (45% lower than the same period in 2022). However, the number of new cases has been increasing again in the past 2 months, notably the number of severe cases and deaths due to hand, foot and mouth disease is increasing and has been higher than the same period last year. Currently, the southern region has 7 deaths due to hand, foot and mouth disease. Localities with many severe cases are Binh Duong, Dong Nai, An Giang, Kien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City... Surveillance and testing activities have also detected that the EV71 virus is gradually dominating the test samples of severe cases.
“EV71 virus is a common cause of epidemics, causing complications and a higher risk of death than other virus strains that caused serious epidemics in 2011 and 2018,” Dr. Nguyen Vu Thuong commented and warned that in the coming time, the situation of hand, foot and mouth disease is expected to become more complicated because this is the time when hand, foot and mouth disease increases sharply in the year.
In addition to hand, foot and mouth disease, dengue fever is also "heating up". In Ho Chi Minh City alone, 8,091 cases of dengue fever were recorded (46% lower than the same period in 2022), with no deaths. According to Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, although the number of dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease cases is lower than the same period in 2022, the number of severe cases is higher. The city has recorded 4 deaths of children at Children's Hospital 1 due to hand, foot and mouth disease. All 4 cases were transferred from other provinces and cities.
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Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Van Vinh Chau speaks |
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Director of Children's Hospital 1, said that compared to previous years, the number of children hospitalized with hand, foot and mouth disease has not increased this year, but the number of severe cases has increased 2.5 times; among them, many children are hospitalized in critical condition. The most worrying thing now, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, is the shortage of drugs to treat severe hand, foot and mouth disease such as: Gamma Globulin and intravenous Phenobarbital. While intravenous Phenobarbital is expected to be available in July, Gamma Globulin is in short supply globally. "The Ministry of Health needs to reallocate hand, foot and mouth disease referrals to 4 hospitals: Children's Hospital 1, Children's Hospital 2, Children's Hospital of the City and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases to share the burden," Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung suggested.
Regarding this issue, the Drug Administration of Vietnam - Ministry of Health said that Vietnam currently has only over 2,300 vials of Gamma Globulin, of which 300 vials are in the warehouse of Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC), and over 2,000 vials are in the warehouse of a pharmaceutical company. This medicine can only be imported again by mid-August.
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| Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Nguyen Hoang Bac, Director of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City |
Faced with a shortage of medicine to treat hand, foot and mouth disease at end-line hospitals, leaders of Cho Ray Hospital and Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital said that the two units are ready to support resources to share the burden of treating infectious diseases for other hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities in the southern region.
Early policy to protect those performing bidding work
Appreciating the epidemic prevention work of Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces and cities in the Southern region, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said that, with objective conditions, the situation of infectious diseases this year is expected to be more complicated. To cope with the situation, the Deputy Minister suggested that Ho Chi Minh City and 20 provinces and cities, in addition to raising vigilance against hand, foot and mouth disease in children, need to pay attention to adults, because many adults are infected but have no symptoms and become a source of re-infection for children.
The Deputy Minister also requested localities to step up the collection of samples for testing to evaluate genes and virus strains and send them to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology or units in Ho Chi Minh City; doing this work to have a correct assessment of variants, promptly take preventive and control measures. In epidemic surveillance work, there needs to be coordination and information provision between the prevention and treatment sectors, thereby promptly handling outbreaks and limiting the spread of the disease. At the same time, provinces and cities must urgently issue plans to prevent and control infectious diseases in 2023, ensuring 4 on-site. Once there is a plan, if it has not been or is being submitted for approval, it is recommended that the People's Committees of provinces and cities urgently approve funding to proactively implement the prevention and control of hand, foot and mouth disease, dengue fever and Covid-19.
At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and supervision of the epidemic situation, early detection and timely handling of outbreaks, not allowing new outbreaks to arise. There is an information reporting system, because in reality, some provinces and cities have reported late, affecting the work of epidemic prevention, control, and emergency treatment. 20 southern provinces and cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, should soon organize training, support, and provide knowledge to improve capacity for private clinics and non-public medical facilities to improve knowledge of disease prevention and treatment according to stratification; upper-level hospitals need to support remote treatment for lower-level medical facilities. The city must also do a good job of planning medicines and medical supplies; promote activities of spraying chemicals to kill mosquitoes, disinfect the environment; and disseminate information about the epidemic to the people.
“A company producing a vaccine to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease has submitted a registration application to the Drug Administration. Hopefully, this vaccine will be licensed by the end of the year,” Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong added.
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| Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc |
Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc affirmed that the city's leaders have always paid special attention to the prevention of infectious diseases. Since the beginning of 2023, the city has implemented many prevention and control measures to limit the number of cases, the number of severe cases and deaths. In the coming time, in addition to the implemented epidemic prevention and control measures, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to further promote communication work, raise public awareness to limit the number of cases and limit the waste of resources.
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| Leaders of departments, branches and districts of Ho Chi Minh City spoke at the meeting. |
Regarding the establishment of rare drug reserve centers for each region, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc proposed that the Ministry of Health utilize the resources of Cho Ray Hospital to develop it into a rare drug reserve center for the southern region. "The Ministry of Health needs to soon issue mechanisms and policies to resolve financial problems arising when the drug stock is not fully used. Only then can we "liberate" the psychological concerns of medical staff when purchasing and bidding, ensuring the supply of drugs in disease treatment," the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee suggested.
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