Experts from the WHO and the CDC in Việt Nam attend a meeting on Friday. — Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health (MoH) is considering offering a lung transplant to a British man infected with COVID-19.

He was the 91st person to be diagnosed with the disease, and has been in a severe condition for weeks.

Both of his lungs were in a poor condition, Dr Nguyễn Văn Kính, head of the MoH’s professional council for COVID-19 treatment, said at a meeting on Friday.

Confirmed as a COVID-19 patient on March 18, the pilot has been suffering from a high fever since being hospitalised and his respiratory system has worsened despite him being just 43 years old and in otherwise good health.

He is also suffering from blood clots and cytokine storm syndrome - an intense immune response where the immune system releases a lot of cytokines through the bloodstream, which actually works against the body instead of protecting it.

His body was resistant to all types of anti-clotting medication, so the MoH has had to buy rare drugs from overseas to treat him, Kính noted, adding that the patient had been on life support for 33 days.

Of the other two severe cases, Patient 19 no longer needs life support or ventilators. She is now able to talk and eat and is in rehabilitation. Patient 161 has been declared free of COVID-19 and is receiving additional care at the Hà Nội-based Bạch Mai Hospital to recover from the effects of a stroke.

There have been no deaths among the 288 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Việt Nam.

Kính said that regarding the death of Patient 251, the professional council affirmed that he died from cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, and chronic gout. He had earlier recovered from COVID-19 and was monitored for a further 15 days, and he tested negative five times before continuing to receive treatment for liver disease at the General Hospital in Ha Nam Province.

Dr Lê Quang Cường, former Deputy Minister of Health, told the meeting that all diagnoses, treatment, and testing guidelines in the country closely followed recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and China. They had also been updated with findings from research and clinical trials around the world.

Experts from the WHO and the CDC in Việt Nam highly valued local efforts in COVID-19 prevention and control. US specialists also said they were ready to coordinate with Việt Nam to build an appropriate testing strategy. — VNS