HCM CITY — A dengue patient who was recently brought from the Mekong Delta province of Đồng Tháp to the HCM City Hospital of Tropical Diseases went into shock in the ambulance.

When the vehicle reached the hospital after a drive of several hours, doctors said it was too late to save the victim, Dr Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh Châu, the hospital’s head, told a workshop on Thursday in HCM City on improving prevention and treatment of dengue fever.

The patient was one of three to die while being “unsafely” brought from their local hospitals to his, he said.

“In such cases, doctors at the local hospital should not send patients with severe dengue to the HCM City Hospital of Tropical Diseases. They should instead call our hospital’s hotline to get advice on how they should treat.”

The hospital would guide them and send doctors to the hospital in question to help treat the patient, and this would help reduce the deaths caused by dengue, he said.

Dr Hoàng Văn Tuyết, deputy head of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hà Nội, said similarly two patients had died on the way to his hospital.

Nguyễn Trọng Khoa, deputy head of the Ministry of Health’s medical examination and treatment department, said the ministry would instruct health departments around the country to regulate such transfers between hospitals.

The National Hospital of Tropical Diseases should set up a hotline for hospitals in Hà Nội and the northern region to provide professional assistance, he said.

Hospitals should also follow the ministry’s guidelines on diagnosis, treatment and emergency aid for dengue patients to reduce fatalities, he said.

One 19-year-old patient was diagnosed with the disease but not treated based on the guidelines, leading to shock and death, he added.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long warned that the disease would see an upward trend in the next few months.

More and more people would probably contract it and hospitals have to improve their capacity to treat it, he said.

They should take the initiative and call higher-level hospitals that have experience in treating it -- such as paediatrics and tropical diseases hospitals – for professional advice before deciding to transfer their patients there, he said.

Trần Đắc Phu, head of the ministry’s preventive health department, said 57,492 cases of dengue have been reported in the country this year, 9.7 per cent higher year-on-year.

Fifteen patients have died, Phu said.

HCM City, Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng and the provinces of Bình Dương, Khánh Hòa, An Giang, Đồng Nai, Đồng Tháp, Sóc Trăng, and Tiền Giang have reported the highest number of cases.

Dr Phùng Đức Nhật, deputy head of HCM City Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, said usually heavy rains start in May, leading to dengue fever breaking out in July and lasting until October.

“However, there were many heavy showers in February this year, so the incidence of dengue has increased since May.” —VNS