HÀ NỘI (VNS) — The Ministry of Health has released instructions on treating and preventing infection by the Zika virus for pregnant women in Việt Nam.

The instructions are for doctors and medical staff at obstetrics hospitals, and include instructions on Zika prevention and the care of pregnant women living in Zika affected areas.

It said that a pregnant woman should be tested for the Zika virus if she had some of the following factors: she was within the first three months of her gestation period; has lived in or travelled through a Zika affected area; has a husband or sexual partner who has tested positive to Zika; or had symptoms of fever and hives, and at least one symptom like conjunctivitis or pains in their bones and joints.

For pregnant women who tested positive to the Zika virus, obstetric care should be based on ultrasound results for proper interventions. Pregnant women should be sent to hospitals capable of prenatal diagnosis and be admitted for re-checkup and examination if the ultrasound results show signs of brain damage or microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head).

The move has been put forward following the ministry’s confirmation yesterday of two women, including a pregnant woman, who have contracted the Zika virus in the central Khánh Hòa Province and in HCM City.

The Khánh Hòa Preventive Medicine Centre yesterday sprayed mosquito repellent in Phước Hòa Ward of Nha Trang City where a 64-year-old woman tested positive to the virus. The activity was one of the province’s drastic measures to kill mosquito and larvae and prevent the Zika virus from spreading in the community.

Zika prevention

The ministry also released a recommendation to take the initiative in preventing the Zika virus with a focus on practicing measures to avoid mosquitoes bites and killing mosquito larvae in the community.

People should wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, sleep under a mosquito bed net and use insect repellents to kill mosquitoes and prevent bites. Households can kill larvae by introducing ornamental fish into open standing water and keeping water tanks and containers tightly covered. 

During the first three months of their gestation period, a pregnant woman who has lived or returned from an area infected by the virus and has fever, hives or any one symptom such as bone and joint pains or conjunctivitis, should undergo tests.

The ministry also warned people to minimise travelling between regions and localities. People returning from a Zika-affected area should monitor his or her health for 12 days. Those with symptoms should visit a medical station for early examination and treatment. — VNS