The Ministry of Health on March 21 requested the Bac Ninh government to direct the provincial Department of Health and local medical centers to stop conducting porcine tapeworm tests on children, the local media reported.

A health worker takes blood sample from a kid. The Ministry of Health has asked the Bac Ninh government to stop porcine tapeworm tests

According to the ministry, it is impossible to conclude that patients are infected with porcine tapeworms based solely on their blood test results. Blood testing is just one of many methods of diagnosing the infection.

In addition, patients testing positive for porcine tapeworms do not need to undergo immediate medical treatment. Treatment is only necessary if patients develop clinical symptoms of the infection.

Regarding the widespread tapeworm infections among children in Bac Ninh Province, the Ministry of Health also asked the provincial authorities to enhance control over the origins of food used in school canteens in the province and to impose heavy sanctions on violators.

The province was also assigned to educate the local people on the nature of the disease and diagnostic methods, as well as good habits for ensuring food safety and hygiene.

Earlier, thousands of Bac Ninh parents together with their kids had flocked to hospitals in Hanoi and Bac Ninh for tapeworm tests after 62 children from Thanh Khuong Kindergarten in Thuan Thanh District of the province were found to be infected with tapeworms. These parents blamed dirty food at the kindergarten, supplied by Huong Thanh Company, for the tapeworm infections.

At a press conference, held in Bac Ninh Province on March 19 by the Department of Food Safety, under the Ministry of Health, Nguyen Thanh Phong, director of the Department of Food Safety, confirmed that even if pork used at the kindergarten had been infected with tapeworms, the infection could not have spread to the children as the pork had been cooked before being served. In addition, these children could have been infected with tapeworms through drinking water.

SGT