With the cold high pressure system weakening and moving east and a subtropical high pressure system crossing the south, there will be a heat wave in the south, including HCM City, until May, according to the Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Centre.

Heat will peak between noon and 4pm in HCM City in the next several days with the onset of a heat wave. 

Temperatures will rise from the current 35 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees.

HCM City has been going through a bout of hot weather since the beginning of this month with temperatures rising to 38 degrees.

Temperatures will peak between noon and 4pm for the next several days, with temperatures at the ground level being higher than forecast levels because of radiation from traffic, construction works and street surface.

Vũ Quang Đẩu, deputy head of the centre’s forecasting division, said from March 21 the heat will become increasingly severe.

The region’s average temperatures until May will be 0.5-1 degree Celsius higher than in the same period last year, he said.

This year’s hot spell will be caused by La Niña, a phenomenon associated with the cooling of the central Pacific Ocean, and climate change.

According to health experts, prolonged heat is conducive to the spread of bacteria and viruses, and could cause seniors to get sore throat, sinusitis and laryngitis. 

Dr Đinh Thac of the city’s Paediatrics Hospital 1 told the Liberated Saigon newspaper that common diseases during hot spells include diarrhoea, food poisoning and acute respiratory tract inflammation.

Children could also contract chicken pox, mumps, measles, and meningitis, he said.

Dehydration is also a threat, he warned.

Parents should regularly wash their children’s hands before eating to prevent infection and keep the environment clean, and be hygienic with cooking and storing food, he said.

Kids should be given plenty of water and fruit juices and vaccinated adequately, he said. — VNS