HCM CITY — Việt Nam has not recorded any mutations of the swine flu (A/H1N1) virus, according to Dr Nguyễn Thanh Trường from HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Speaking at a seminar today on the prevention and treatment of A/H1N1 in the city, Trường said that test results showed that the virus was the same one that appeared in 2009.

For treatment and prevention of A/H1N1, Dr Đinh Huy Mẫn from HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases said that hospitals should isolate patients infected with A/H1N1 to prevent the spread of the virus and use vaccines on the patients, who should not be transferred to other hospitals.

On June 24, a 46- year-old male patient from Bình Tân District died from swine flu at Chợ Rẫy Hospital after two days of treatment at the hospital.

Dr Lê Quốc Hùng, head of Chợ Rẫy Hospital’s department of tropical diseases said the patient was admitted to the hospital in poor condition with respiratory failure and pneumonia. He had to breathe through a ventilator.

In addition, the patient was obese, which made treatment more difficult, he added.

This was the third A/H1N1 death in the city since the beginning of the year.

The first patient was a 29-year-old female, who was also obese. She died at HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases on May 30. The second patient with end-stage kidney failure died at Chợ Rẫy Hospital on June 23.

Chợ Rẫy Hospital now has seven patients infected with swine flu. Three of them are in critical condition and must use a ventilator.

In early June, swine flu spread in Từ Dũ Hospital and 80 patients were isolated. Disinfectant was used in the hospital to prevent the spread of the virus. The situation is said to be now under control.

The mortality rate of swine flu, which is a seasonal flu, is lower than one per cent. — VNS

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