Children being admitted to the Children Hospital No. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Cold weather is being blamed for thousands of children with diarrhea in Hanoi as well as the spread of colds and flu to thousands more in Ho Chi Minh City during the past few weeks.

“My baby has been vomiting and suffering with diarrhea for two days,” said a mother of a one-year-old child from Dong Da District at the hospital Tuesday.

Doctor Can Phu Nhuan, dean of the Central Children Hospital’s examination department said between 1,300 and 1,500 children had been brought to the hospital for examinations everyday, recently adding that diarrhea patients accounted for 30 percent of admissions.

He said diarrhea patients may not have high temperatures if it is caused by a virus.

“Diarrhea may cause severe dehydration which is very dangerous,” he said. “Patients should be taken to the hospital right away when showing symptoms like thirst, dry lips and crying without tears.”

The Saint Paul Hospital in Hanoi has examined around 600 children everyday recently, a third of them with diarrhea.

Doctor Hoang Minh Thu of the Saint Paul Hospital said the children had contracted Rotavirus, which is more common in the cold season.

Doctors also advised parents to rehydrate their sick children before taking them to hospital, adding that improper treatment at home could worsen the potentially fatal disease.

“Parents should offer oral rehydration therapy as first aid before taking them to hospital,” doctor Nhuan advised, adding to administer only small sips to avoid nausea.

He also called for good parental hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the virus to more children.

“Sometimes, adults contract the virus but display no symptoms,” he said adding that they could still transmit it to their children.

In Ho Chi Minh City the recent dry cold weather has led to a lot of children with respiratory problems.

The highest risk of children catching respiratory disease and diarrhea is during this time of the year, Nguyen Thi Hanh Le, deputy director of HCMC Children’s Hospital No. 2 told Thanh Nien on Monday.

Le said there were 120 respiratory in-patients using 70 beds at the hospital Tuesday.

She noted that children around two to three years of age easily catch respiratory diseases, colds and viruses every time the weather changes.

The number of respiratory patients at the city’s Children Hospital No.1 has been increasing with more than 100 children brought for examination every day, mostly under age 3.

Doctor Nguyen Phuong Hoa Binh from the Children Hospital No.2 added that there were also asthma-related cases.

Pham Thi Ngoc Tuyet, dean of the hospital’s digestion department said her department received more than 600 children in the first three weeks of this month, adding that the department often treats 120 or more children at a time.

Mothers were advised to keep their children warm and pay attention to cooking hygiene, especially until the end of January, Children Hospital No. 2’s Le said.

Doctors Nhuan of the Central Children Hospital said parents should strictly follow doctors’ prescriptions for antibiotics and diarrhea medicine.

Medical experts also warned about mumps, rubella and chicken-pox among children in January and February.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff