HCM CITY — A 10-year-old boy who suffered from multiple organ failure after contracting dengue fever has been discharged from the hospital after a more than month-long recovery period, according to the HCM City Paediatrics Hospital.

Doctors at the hospital travelled to the Bến Tre Province-based Nguyễn Đình Chiểu General Hospital’s paediatrics department to assist the local doctors in treating the boy with medicine and kidney dialysis. He was later transferred to HCM City.

After one and a half of months of treatment, he was recently discharged from the HCM City Paediatrics Hospital.

Dr Nguyễn Minh Tiến, deputy director of the hospital, said the risk of contracting dengue fever was much higher during the rainy season.

Tiến cautioned people to take preventive measures and bring their children to health facilities if they have had a fever for more than two days and symptoms such as nose and gum bleeding, severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, vomiting of blood, or cold skin.

As of September 1, nearly 45,600 dengue fever cases had been reported nationwide, according to the Ministry of Health.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of cases has fallen by 30 to 40 per cent. However, hospitals nationwide have seen an increase in the number of patients with severe shock caused by dengue fever infections.

Nine people so far this year have died from dengue fever. Most of them lived in the southern region, including three in the Mekong Delta provinces of Cà Mau, An Giang and Trà Vinh.

Doctor said the main cause for the deaths was late treatment. All of the patients who died had deadly complications such as gastrointestinal bleeding, and liver and heart failure.

The number of dengue fever cases is expected to increase in the next two months, according to doctors.

Dengue fever is in the peak season in Cần Thơ City and the Mekong Delta provinces.

The region has had abnormal amount of rainfall this year. In Cần Thơ alone, 615 patients with dengue fever had been reported as of September 14.

Health officials in the region are taking preventive measures, including spraying chemicals, to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

The chairman of Trà Vinh Province People’s Committee, Đồng Văn Lâm, has instructed health officials and local authorities to focus on prevention.

The committee will fine individuals and organisations that do not take precautionary measures.

By the end of July, Trà Vinh Province had 393 cases of dengue fever, including one death. — VNS