VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre reported that hand, foot and mouth disease caused three fatalities last month but its incidence has increased sharply since.

Children with hand, foot and mouth disease are treated at HCM City's Hospital for Children No1. The number of infected children are double since last month. (Photo: VNS)

Dr Nguyen Dac Tho, deputy head of the Centre, said last month there were 40 children infected every week and this now has increased to 80.

The HCM City Paediatric Hospital No.2 now has 32 children with the disease, 10 per cent with serious complications.

Dr Nguyen Chau Viet, head of its infectious diseases department, said the number of patients has doubled since last month when it received 142 patients. One of them died.

The first epidemic cluster was discovered in a kindergarten in Tan Binh District after a girl was diagnosed with the disease and died in hospital on March 20.

The second cluster was found at Tan Son Nhat Kindergarten, also in Tan Binh District, where three children were found infected.

Serious cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have also been reported in neighbouring provinces like Long An, Binh Duong, and Tien Giang.

* Cancer patients need blood platelet donors

Neuroblastoma, a cancer that forms in nerve tissue, can affect young children and infants, sometimes leading to death.

Nguyen Tuan Hau, a four-year-old boy from Hau Giang Province, had the disease and was in a great deal of pain as he waited in the hospital for chemotherapy treatment that could save his life.

But, first, he needed to receive blood platelets so the doctors could proceed with chemotherapy.

People who have certain cancers may have too few platelets, which are produced in bone marrow, as a result of their disease.

Danh Quoc Hung, 6, of Soc Trang Province, was not as lucky as Hau, who received blood platelets within a week.

Hung, who had leukaemia, was treated at the Oncology Hospital. Because of bone marrow failure, he needed a large amount of blood platelets.

However, the hospital had a shortage of platelets and asked the boy's father to find a donor. But the father said he could not find anyone willing to donate platelets.

Dr Ngo Thi Thanh Thuy, head of the Oncology Hospital's Paediatric Oncology Ward, said that platelet shortages usually occured during Tet and summer holidays because most suppliers are students.

Currently, the hospital is treating 150 inpatients and 500 outpatients who have cancer. Half of them have leukaemia, lymphoma and neuroblastoma.

Because platelets are needed for such patients, the hospital every month asks the city's Hospital for Hematology and Blood Transfusion for 350 platelet units to keep in reserve.

However, that did not satisfy the need, Thuy said.

Most hospital patients with leukaemia, lymphoma and neuroblastoma were in serious condition and must undergo chemotherapy, she added.

Because their blood platelet count is already low, chemotherapy treatments will lower the platelet count even further.

According to Dr Truong Thi Kim Dung, deputy head of the city Hospital for Hematology and Blood Transfusion, the hospital each month provides a total of 6,000 and 7,000 platelet units to hospitals throughout the city.

But the demand always exceeds supply, as platelets can only be stored for a maximum of five days.

Many people in HCM City are not aware of the need for platelet donation and are afraid to donate because they fear it could endanger their health.

* Tests for radio-activity tighten at border gates

The health ministry will strengthen checks at international border gates to ensure products contaminated by radiation do not enter the country.

The move comes after concerns were raised over the threat of imported products from Japan contaminated by radiation. Additional measures announced by the ministry also include boosting provision of health consultancy services relating to radioactive exposure.

The ministry will also work with relevant ministries and agencies to inspect radioactive contamination at airports and monitor the spread of radioactive clouds from Japan to Viet Nam, according to head of the ministry's Preventive Medicine Department Nguyen Van Binh.

The department has compiled lists of passengers from Japan to Viet Nam to tighten checks on the 300 to 400 passengers that travel from Japan to Viet Nam each day.

These passengers all underwent radioactive decontamination procedures before leaving Japan following an agreement between Japan and Viet Nam.

"Basically all passengers and products entering Viet Nam from Japan are now safe," said Binh.

"However, the ministry will still keep close watch over passengers, particularly those from the southern region of Japan, just in case they are contaminated and somehow slipped through the safety net."

Observation stations in Ha Noi, Lang Son, Da Lat, Ninh Thuan and HCM City have been recording the movement of radioactive clouds, according to the Institute of Nuclear Technology and Science.

"However, the level of radiation from these clouds are at a very low level, and do not pose a threat to human health and the environment," said the institute's director Trinh Van Giap.

* 600 dengue fever cases in Ca Mau Province

More than 600 dengue fever cases have occurred in the southernmost province of Ca Mau in the first four months of this year, leaving one dead, according to the provincial Health Department. The local Preventive Medicine Centre has disinfected 194 areas with community mosquito killing campaigns.

* Drinking glasses pose lead poisoning threat

Seven out of 15 inspected made-in-China glasses on sale in Lam Dong Province were found to have exceeded safe lead levels.

The results were released following an inspection conducted by the Sub-Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Department of Science and Technology of the Central Highlands province on Wednesday.

High lead content in drinking glasses can negatively affect people's kidneys, brain, and cardiovascular and reproductive systems.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News