A patient with a virus-caused fever is examined at a health facility in Hanoi. Health authorities have warned of infectious diseases that often spread early in the rainy season.

The Ministry of Health has called for vigilance against infectious diseases that spread when the seasons change, even as the nation remains focused on preventing the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Doctors have asked parents to take their children to the hospital as soon as they show symptoms like fever or headaches, so they can be treated quickly. A delay in hospitalization could either prove fatal or have serious after-effects, they warn.

Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu on Wednesday instructed hospitals and medical centers to enforce preventive measures against infectious diseases.

His order came during a meeting with health authorities in southern provinces on preventing the influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Nguyen Tien Dung, head of the children’s ward of the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, Thursday said the number of children contracting viral fevers has increased in recent days.

“These children make up two-thirds of the number of patients being examined here,” he said. “Many families had all members infected with the disease.”

Dung said the extended seasons-changing period this year has facilitated the multiplication of viruses, mainly those affecting the respiratory system.

The Bach Mai Hospital has examined between 70 and 80 children every day for the last three weeks, Tuoi Tre Newspaper quoted the hospital’s Nguyen The Thanh as saying.

“Most patients were examined and prescribed medicines, and we couldn’t admit all of them if necessary,” he said.

Nguyen Quoc Tuan, another doctor at Bach Mai Hospital, said adults have also been infected with viral fevers and several people from the same residential areas have contracted them.

The Saint Paul Hospital also reported they have examined between 500 and 600 children, with a majority found with virus-caused fever.

Hoang Minh Thu of Saint Paul Hospital said first-stage symptoms of the viral fever could be as simple as a slight fever and tiredness, but children should be examined at the hospital to ensure it is not the dangerous meningitis or Japanese encephalitis fevers.

Thanh said an average of between three and five children examined at Bach Mai Hospital every day have contracted meningitis over the last month or so.

He warned parents to take the children to hospital if they show symptoms of headache, nausea and vomiting.

In nearby Ha Nam Province, doctors have also warned of increasing numbers of children examined at hospital for viral fevers, VnExpress reported.

Dang Anh Hung of the Ha Nam General Hospital said this began a month ago when many children were brought to the hospital with high fever and vomiting.

The increased number of patients has also overloaded local hospitals, where up to four patients have had to share a bed in some instances.

Doctors at the Ha Nam General Hospital said they’ve had to admit more than double the number of patients they have beds for, and the overloading has caused difficulties in offering proper treatment.

Dr. Tran Van Anh of the hospital said the infectious diseases ward has admitted 549 patients with fever since early this year.

A new strain of virus this year has caused headaches in patients besides the symptom of high temperature, he added.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies