VietNamNet Bridge – An increasing number of people have contracted human influenza type A/H1N1 in recent days, including whole families, but doctors are calling for public calm after establishing it is merely seasonal flu.

 

Illustrative image.—VNS/Photo vtc

 

Deputy director of the Ha Noi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Nguyen Hong Ha, said that residents should not be worried because although the virus spread quickly, the fatality rate was not high.

More than 90 per cent of patients suffer from only mild symptoms, and less than 10 per cent develop life-threatening complications such as pneumonia, multiorgan disfunction and myocarditis.

However, residents should not be complacent and should be isolated if they display symptoms such as fever, coughing, sneezing and a runny nose.

If the symptoms persist, patients must be hospitalised for treatment and given anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu, he said.

The medicine is most effective when administered at the first sign of symptoms.

The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases admitted two A/H1N1 patients during the recent five-day holiday.

The two patients from Ha Noi's Thuong Tin District were hospitalised with pneumonia and respiratory difficulties, and one was put on a ventilator. Other members of their families were also suffering from mild symptoms.

The first case of A/H1N1 flu in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong this year has been detected.

The patient was hospitalised a week ago suffering from a cough and a slightly high temperature. Tests conducted by the HCM City-based Pasteur Institute found that the patient was suffering from flu.

The patient is being kept under surveillance in the provincial hospital's isolation area.

The Lao Cai Preventive Medicine Centre also announced that three students from the provincial boarding high school had tested positive for A/H1N1 flu.

The centre is working with the school to sterilise the affected area and supervise the sick students to prevent the disease from spreading.

The province had earlier detected five cases in Quang Kim Commune, Bat Xat District.

A total of 119 patients have tested positive for different strains of flu so far this year, and nearly 70 of them were suffering from A/H1N1, according to the national flu supervision report.

Source: VNS