Patients with dengue fever get treatment in HCM City. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City Department of Health has sent an urgent document to medical facilities in the city on implementing the Red Alert Procedure (RAP) for patients with dengue fever.

Healthcare establishments must comply with the management and treatment stratification of dengue patients and adhere to the principle of coordination for safe hospital transfer. Patients also need to be treated promptly after being transferred to other hospitals.

For severe dengue patients in critical and life-threatening conditions, the hospital must activate the red alert procedure for in-hospital or inter-hospital dengue patients to give timely treatment for patients.

RAP is activated when dengue patients stop breathing suddenly, their heart stops beating, or they are severe patients with respiratory failure.

Hospitals must also adopt the red alert procedure if patients suffer impairment or severe bleeding.

On Thursday, the city Department of Health also established a team of experts on dengue treatment.

The expert group will update and supplement the treatment guidelines for dengue; participate in professional councils, training, remote consultation, RAP and treatment of severe cases.

According to the Centre for Disease Control of HCM City, the city has recorded nearly 64,500 cases of dengue fever, including 26 deaths from the beginning of the year to October 9.

The caseload has increased by 627.6 per cent over the same period last year (8,860 cases in 2021). The rate of severe cases is 2.2 per cent, up 3.6 times over the figure in the same period the previous year. — VNS