After two and a half of months of treatment at Children’s Hospital 1, the patient with life-threatening complications caused by dengue fever recovered and his kidney functioning has improved. Source https://nhidong.org.vn

HCM CITY— Many hospitals in HCM City use telemedicine, which allows doctors to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients from a distance using telecommunications technologies, saving patients with grave illnesses and improving the quality of training for doctors at grassroots levels.

Children’s Hospital 1 in HCM City said last week that its doctors used smartphone applications to help save a 14-year-old boy in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

The patient was diagnosed with dengue at Xuyên Mộc District Hospital and had life-threatening complications.

He was then brought to the Bà Rịa General Hospital, where the deputy director, Phan Văn Thành, called Assoc Prof Dr Phạm Văn Quang, head of the department of intensive care and anti-poison at Children’s Hospital 1, to seek help with his treatment.

Since the patient was in serious condition and could die on the way if transferred to Children’s Hospital 1, they opted to use telemedicine.

Doctors at the HCM City hospital guided their Bà Rịa General Hospital counterparts in preventing shocks, ensuring breathing, dialysing, and transfusing plasma.

When the boy’s health improved and stabilised, he was brought to the Children’s Hospital 1 for further treatment.

During the two-hour trip from the Bà Rịa General Hospital too, the doctors continued to co-ordinate using apps to ensure the transfer went smoothly.

After two and a half of months of treatment at Children’s Hospital 1, the patient recovered and his kidney functioning has improved. He is expected to be discharged within the next week.

Dr Quang of the hospital said the case showed that co-operation in this manner between city-level and lower-level hospitals was proving very effective in treating patients.

He called for greater use of telemedicine since the incidence of dangerous diseases was rising.

For instance, there had been more cases of dengue fever this year than last year, he said.

According to doctors at city-level hospitals, improper transport of patients from provincial and grassroots hospitals to their hospitals is one of causes of patients’ death.

Dr Tăng Chí Thượng, deputy director of the city Department of Health, told Việt Nam News besides Children’s Hospital 1, others such as Children’s Hospital 2 and Từ Dũ Obstetrics Hospital also used software and mobile phone apps to provide counselling and help to their counterparts at lower-level hospitals. 

Doctors at Từ Dũ have used a software called zoom.us to train more than 37,000 doctors at hospitals around the country since 2016. 

Its deputy director, Nguyễn Bá Mỹ Nhi, said: “With this method, the hospital does not need to send its doctors to provincial-level hospitals to provide training, reducing costs and preventing a doctor shortage”. — VNS

In Box: Dengue fever update

HÀ NỘI — The General Department of Preventive Medicine reported that the country had more than 230,000 dengue fever cases in the first 10 months of this year, up from 125,200 in last year.

The numbers in Hà Nội, the Central Highlands and southern and central regions doubled or tripled compared to the same period last year.

There have been 50 deaths. — VNS