The number of patients infected with dengue fever has increased considerably in the central province of Quảng Ngãi.– Photo baoquangngai.vn

Quảng Ngãi – The number of patients infected with dengue fever has increased considerably in the central province of Quảng Ngãi.

Since late last month, Đức Phổ District had reported 218 cases of dengue. In Tập An Nam Village, which is home to only 37 households, 74 cases had been reported, and 14 people had been hospitalized, said Hồ Minh Nên, director of the disease control centre in the province.

At present, the centre has instructed districts to carry out measures to prevent the disease by spraying for mosquitoes and cleaning, he said.

The sudden increase of dengue fever patients has caused overloading for local hospitals.

Đặng Thùy Trâm General Hospital in Đức Phổ District treated 218 patients in a month.

The hospital’s tropical disease department has 25 beds while it was trying to treat 30-40 patients per day, forcing some to have to share a bed.

Since earlier this year, 550 cases of dengue fever had been in hospitals in the province, said the director.

But the number of cases who did not go to hospital had not been calculated, Nên said.

Majority of HIV carriers had medical insurance

Hà Nội – About 89 per cent of HIV patients now had medical insurance, according to Dr Nguyễn Hoàng Long, director of the HIV/AIDS Control Department.

“This marks progress in the HIV preventive treatment programme,” he said.

The Health Ministry was co-operating with the Việt Nam Social Insurance Agency to set up a database of HIV patients who were using ARV (anti-virus) medicines to monitor funding for the drugs, Long said.

HIV/AIDS control in Việt Nam has achieved some progress in recent years.

The percentage of new HIV cases has fallen over the past 10 years, but an outbreak could return if effective measures were not taken.

The reduction of international assistance had also caused difficulties for the HIV/AIDS prevention programme.

At present, ARV treatment is paid for by the medical insurance fund, so encouraging HIV patients to buy medical insurance was very important to help all patients access healthcare services.

Kon Tum Province identifies five cases of diphtheria

The Central Highlands Province of Kon Tum has recently detected five cases of diphtheria.

The patients from Đăk Tô and Tu Mơ Rông districts were treated at Kon Tum General Hospital.

According to Doctor Nguyễn Lộc Vương, director of the province’s disease control department, the patients appeared healthy but had tested positive for diphtheria.

 The patients were hospitalised and isolated to avoid the bacteria from spreading, said Vương.

Health workers also used detergent to clean the contaminated area.

Since earlier this year, the province has discovered seven cases of diphtheria and recorded two deaths. – VNS