No case of severe complications at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital
Hand-foot-mouth disease in Vietnam is a year-round disease which is transmitted through the gastrointestinal tract and occurs in most of 63 provinces and cities, usually recording an increase in the number of cases between April-May and September-October annually.Dr Nguyen Van Lam, MD.PhD, director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children’s Hospital, said that since the beginning of the year, the Center has received about 125 hand-foot-mouth patients.On the morning of April 14, at VNCH, there were not many cases with suspected hand-foot-mouth disease and all had mild symptoms. On average, every day, there are 5-6 patients hospitalized with mild level 2A, there are a few cases of level 2B.
Up until now, the Center has not recorded any severe cases. Most patients have grade 1 diseases such as low-grade fever, accompanied by rash on the palms and feet, which can be treated and cared for at home. Children with symptoms of high fever and rapid pulse are admitted to hospital for follow-up care.According to Dr. Lam, most children with hand-foot-mouth disease are under 5 years old, especially children under 3 years old are more likely to be affected. Normally, hand-foot-mouth disease develops in 5-7 days, but if the child has early severe symptoms, on the first day or the second day, the child will have severe symptoms.
Just admitted to the hospital last night, baby T. (13 months old) arrived at the emergency room with vomiting after fever. She was previously taken to private clinic and diagnosed mild hand-foot-mouth disease, which can be cared for at home. However, after only one day of fever, the baby continuously vomited, the family rushed to take him to the emergency hospital. The doctor said, baby T. has typical symptoms of hand-foot-mouth disease with rashes on limbs. This virus also causes digestive disorders, causing the child to vomit.
Lying in the same emergency room, boy H. (19 months old) after three days of treatment, his condition improved, his fever gradually decreased. Prior to admission at VNCH, he was examined at a private clinic close to home and required hospitalization. However, his mother requested to take care of him at home. His continued to have high fever, especially in the afternoon, thus the family took him to VNCH. After three days of treatment, H. will be discharged today.
The number of cases increases rapidly, everyone should be careful of hand-foot-mouth disease season
According to the infectious disease surveillance system from the beginning of 2021 to April 7, the whole country recorded 17,451 cases of hand-foot-mouth disease, including four deaths in Kien Giang (two), An Giang (one). ) and Long An (one). Compared to the same period in 2020, the number of cases increased four times and increased mainly in the South and locally in some provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Long An, Dong Thap, and An Giang.
At Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital there are currently more than 40 hand-foot-mouth disease patients of all levels. The number of children with this disease is increasing day by day. Some children have also had neuro-cardiovascular complications. In particular, some children have a very rapid progression of the disease, even though they only have a small rash at first.
Meanwhile, according to the Center for Disease Control of Da Nang city, from the beginning of the year to April 2021, the number of hand-foot-mouth disease cases across the city is more than 212, an increase of 2.5 times over the same period. 2020 is 92 cases. Only in the last three weeks of March 2021, the whole city recorded 68 cases.
At the National Children’s Hospital, although no serious complications were recorded, the number of cases in 2021 had a sudden increase compared to two years ago. In the same period in 2019, the Center received about 70 cases; In 2020, this number is 19-20 cases and in 2021 it is currently 125 cases.
Dr. Lam recommends that hand-foot-mouth disease is spread through ingestion, contact, droplets and person-to-person transmission. Therefore, environmental conditions, crowded environments, and hygiene habits are factors that cause disease transmission.
To prevent hand-foot-mouth disease, we must ensure to keep a distance, keep the habit of hand hygiene, children’s toys must be kept clean to avoid cross-contamination. Families need to feed their children cooked food, drink boiling water, use foods that are easy to digest, and ensure nutrition to strengthen children’s health. With sores in the throat, children must rinse their mouths according to the instructions and apply pain relieversPointing out some mistakes made by parents when they see that their children do not respond to fever, they immediately increase the dose for their children, Dr. Lam said that antipyretic drugs must be treated at the correct dose and every six hours to be used again.
“At the center, we have received cases of children who did not respond to fever, parents impatiently used another dose of antipyretic, leading to an overdose, causing the child to be poisoned with paracetamol, leading to severe liver damage!” said Dr. Lam.
Although the rate of children with brain damage due to hand-foot-mouth disease is not too high, if children have severe complications due to delayed treatment, it will cause brain stem damage, leaving severe sequelae such as encephalitis, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary edema. acute… In an acute epidsode, this disease can cause severe illness and death in children if not promptly cared for and treated.
