HCM CITY — The emergency room of Paediatrics Hospital 2’s Respiratory Department 1 in HCM City is overcrowded in recent days due to the constant increase in the number of patients with pneumonia, doctors said.

Dr. Nguyễn Hoàng Phong, director of the hospital’s respiratory department, revealed that nearly 10,000 children had to consult doctors due to respiratory illnesses and lung diseases, of which over 4,500 children hospitalised, so far, since the beginning of August with serious infection, including pneumonia and bronchitis, and many of them had to undergo mechanical ventilation.

The number of children hospitalised with respiratory illness in August increased by 2-3 times over the previous month, with 60 per cent of the children coming from other provinces.

Infants with respiratory distress were assigned to undergo mechanical ventilation but had to wait their turn.

"Children with respiratory distress will likely suffer from complications. They cannot breathe, thus have to use machines to support breathing during treatment,” Phong said.

Those infected with severe pneumonia could develop complications of pleural effusion, pulmonary abscess, or more serious, they could suffer from necrotising pneumonia, which could severely damage their lungs, according to Phong.

Although the emergency room has only 20 beds, sometimes there were more than 30 patients, many of whom were less than a year old  and were in such serious condition that they had to undergo mechanical ventilation, according to another doctor at the department.

The weather in the south, with its erratic sunshine and rain at the same time, is one of the reasons why children with respiratory diseases are more likely to require hospitalisation, according to the doctor. — VNS