A child is treated at Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital No. 1. The recent cold snap has sent many children and elderly patients to hospitals suffering from respiratory-related diseases.

Ho Chi Minh City hospitals have been flooded with sick children and elderly patients, struck down with respiratory-related diseases brought on by the recent cold snap.

Pneumonia and asthma cases are also common, Tuan said, adding that most patients were aged under five.

He said usually the number of respiratory cases fell at this time of year but this year the opposite had occurred.

Nguyen Phuong Hoa Binh, head of the Respiratory Faculty No. 1 at HCMC Children’s Hospital No. 2, reported the same situation.

Tuan said bronchiole inflammation appeared similar to a cold in the first two days but could develop into breathing difficulties, pneumonia and collapsed lungs, all of which can be fatal.

Binh warned parents that the disease is transmitted via direct contact.

Le Tien Dung, head of HCMC’s Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital’s Respiratory Faculty, said usually staff could concentrate on cleaning the facility for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday at this time of year.

But this year, wards are overflowing with patients, mostly elderly, Dung said.

Pneumonia, bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) top the list of cases, he said.

Dung said the cold weather has worsened the COPD conditions of many old people, forcing them to hospitals.

Respiratory diseases had led to a 40 percent increase in the number of patients going to Nguyen Trai Hospital, hospital Director Ly Le Thanh said.

Nghiem Huu Thanh, director of Hanoi Acupuncture Hospital, reported more asthma and allergy cases.

Doctors have advised children and the elderly to keep their chest and neck warm, especially when outdoors.

Temperatures are forecast to fall further in coming days to 17 degrees Celsius in HCMC and around 20 degrees Celsius in the Mekong Delta region on Friday, said Le Thi Xuan Lan from the Southern Regional Hydro-meteorological Center.

According to the National Center for Hydrometeorology Forecasting, it will be very cold in the northern region, with temperatures falling by 7 to 10 degrees Celsius at night.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff