Children with dengue fever with their carers in the corridor at Children’s Hospital No. 1 in HCMC.

A dengue fever room at Children’s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City has seven sickbeds.

Early onset of the monsoon has seen a usual spurt in the disease brought forward by more than a month and caught people unprepared.

Doctors have warned that mosquito-born dengue fever cases in the city would be more severe this year.

The Children’s Hospital No. 1 has had between 66 and 84 child inpatients every day since early this month, more than twice the normal count.

The grandmother of one patient from outlying Binh Chanh District said her grandchild was lucky as some children have to lie on the ward’s floor and some others in the corridor.

“Children are lying all over the floor and there’s no space to walk,” she said.

Among 15-20 children are admitted to the hospital every day with dengue fever, half come from nearby provinces.

A boy and his father from Dong Nai Province have been out in the hospital corridor for many days.

The 32-year-old father said he only brought his son into the room when doctors wanted to examine him or give him medicine.

Le Bich Lien, head of the dengue fever ward at the hospital, said, “Many doctors and parents are still unprepared and overlook dengue fever thinking it’s not the season yet.”

The Children’s Hospital No. 2 and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the city have also started to receive more dengue fever patients than normal.

Every day, more than 30 children are being treated for dengue fever at the Children’s Hospital No. 2 while the Hospital for Tropical Diseases is admitting 10-17 adults.

Dengue fever causes the same symptoms as flu and other kinds of fever in the first three days, Lien said, advising parents to watch carefully to recognize when their children develop critical conditions such as hemorrhage, vomiting-or faster heartbeats.

Eighty-five percent of the severe cases admitted to Children’s Hospital No. 1 were children on day four or five of the disease when the fever had gone but the disease had turned severe.

Lien said parents should only feel safe after their children overcome the seventh day.

Doctors also warned parents that mosquitoes that caused dengue fever usually sting during daytime.

HCMC has topped the list nationwide with more than 3,600 dengue fever cases so far this year, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Health and Environment Department under the Health Ministry.

The country’s total has reached more than 16,600, up 20 percent year on year.

Nga said local governments play an important role in fighting the disease.

The disease is growing faster in Kien Giang and Soc Trang provinces of the Mekong Delta, with more than 1,100 patients in each province.

Climate change, according to Nga, has caused the early onset of the rainy season and also increased the amount of rainfall, resulting in an increase in number of dengue fever cases and the severity of the disease in Singapore and Indonesia as well.

Dengue fever has been included in Vietnam’s national program to fight the spread of dangerous infectious diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis.

The government has reserved VND70 billion (US$3.9 million) for the fight, Nga said, “But localities have already borrowed VND30 billion for other purposes and there’s only VND40 billion left for spraying, educating locals on preventive measures and clean up operations in fever prone areas.

Source: Tuoi Tre