Lately, the Pediatrics Hospital No.1 and No.2 in Ho Chi Minh City have received many children suffering serious malaria from different districts. It is worth mentioning that malaria comeback is an abnormality because it has disappeared for years in Vietnam.

Comeback of malaria frets medical workers

Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, head of Pediatrics Hospital No.1’s Infection Department said two kids hailing from the Highlands province of Dak Nong were hospitalized while they were experiencing high fever, diarrhea and anemia. Their relatives said that local medical workers did not detect the disease.

Test result carried out by the hospital showed that the two kids have the high malaria parasites densities. After receiving intensive treatment care, five-year-old girl is better but the five-month-old neonate is being in emergency room.

Pediatrics Hospital No.2 within three days admitted two kids with malaria. The first is seven year old girl hailing from the southern province of Binh Phuoc and 13 month old toddler from Dak Nong province. Both were taken to the hospital in prolonged fever, diarrhea, and anemia so they are pale.

According to the mother of one patient, the baby was suffering fever for one week and local doctors diagnosed to have fever due to virus. After one week treatment, her illness had not abated; therefore, she was taken to the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Surprised at the test result which showed her baby to have malaria parasites, the mother said many malaria adults in her neighborhood but kids. Hence, her kid may be the first kid suffering the disease in the district.

Dr. Khanh said the disease has not recurred in the Southeast Asian for years especially amongst children; as a result, doctors had not performed blood test to find parasites. Without timely treatment, the disease will develop into acute illness causing breathing problem, multi-organ failure, and die after 48 - 72 hours.

The symptoms of malaria include chills, fever, sweating, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Other possible symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and coughing. In its early stage, the disease may be mild, resembling the flu.

If it is not treated, however, malaria may get much worse, leading to liver and kidney failure, seizures, coma, and sometimes death, said Dr. Khanh.

Meantime, Dr. Le Hai Loi from the Pediatrics Hospital No.2 warned though very a few kids have malaria, it is very dangerous because their resistance is not as much strong as adults’. Doctors are often mistaken the disease with normal flu in the early stage.

He advised people in disease-stricken regions to think about it when they experience prolonged fever and have blood test . Additionally, to prevent the illness, people should sleep in mosquito-net and tidy the environment.

SGGP