HCM CITY— Pediatric hospitals in HCM City have received four children diagnosed with malaria, including three patients from the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông and one from the southern province of Bình Phước.

For many years, there were no incidences of children with malaria reported in the country, according to Trương Hữu Khanh, head of Pediatric Hospital No 1’s infection diseases department.

Seven-year-old Tạ Thị Ngọc Y. from Bình Phước Province’s Bù Đăng District and one-year-old Ngô Bùi Bảo U from Đắk Nông Province’s Đắk Glong District were transferred to Pediatric Hospital No 2 on November 14 and 17, respectively.

The two patients were hospitalised with a high fever, diarrhea, severe anaemia and chills, said Lê Hải Lợi, a doctor at the hospital’s infection diseases department.

Treatment was administered after the suspected malaria cases were confirmed by parasite-based diagnostic tests. The two patients are in stable condition and are expected to be discharged from the hospital in a few days.

If not treated in a timely manner, malaria can progress to severe illness and lead to death.

Residents living in areas that have ongoing malaria transmission or travellers to these areas should visit hospitals to have blood tests for early diagnosis of malaria, particularly if they a long-lasting fever, Lợi said.

Khanh of Pediatric Hospital No 1 said that a 3-year-old and five-month-old from Đắk Nông Province had also been diagnosed with malaria after blood tests were taken.

The patients were hospitalised with a high fever and severe anaemia. The two patients are in stable condition after several days of treatment.

Malaria is transmitted through the bites of Anopheles mosquitoes. Sleeping under a mosquito net and indoor spraying can help prevent mosquito bites and reduce malaria transmission, Khanh said.—VNS