Outbreak of scarlet fever and measles in North Vietnam

There is great public concern at the outbreak of scarlet fever and measles in Hanoi and the Northern provinces.

Not only children but also adults are susceptible to the infectious virus. Patients are already crowding the infection division of the National Tropical Disease Centre in Hanoi. According to the deputy director of the hospital, Nguyen Hong Ha, scarlet fever has occurred during the same time in previous years and children have been most vulnerable to the disease. This year however, the fever has prolonged for one month and showed no signs of abating.

Hundreds of adults have been hospitalized this year including serious and complicated cases of encephalitis, while toddlers are seen to suffer from respiratory inflammation.

After Tet (lunar New Year), more than 70 percent of the people hospitalized for examination and treatment suffered from influenza and scarlet fever.

Doctor Ha disclosed that the culprit behind the present scarlet fever spread was the rubella virus, a pathogenic agent of the rubella disease. It is transmitted from one person to another. A few scarlet fever cases were caused by drug allergies or streptococcus.

Both scarlet fever and measles showed similar symptoms in the early phase of the infection, hindering an early diagnose and treatment of the disease which led to ultimate serious complications.

Doctors Ha advised people to have vaccination and anyone who showed symptoms of fever or measles should avoid crowded places, wear a face mask and preferably stay indoors.

In related news, the Ministry of Health announced on February 9 that nearly 100 swine flu cases have been reported nationwide. Eight provinces recorded 96 H1N1 patients of which 67 were in Hanoi and 22 in HCMC. One H1N1 patient was reported to have succumbed to the fatal disease.

Man nabbed for immigrating people to Hong Kong

Police in the northern Hai Phong City have arrested a man for attempting to help five Vietnamese men illegally immigrate to Hong Kong.

In June 2006, Nguyen Van Dung, 36, received VND9 million (US$461) from the five residents of Kien Thuy District as fees to help them illegally enter Hong Kong via China.

When they arrived at the area near Hong Kong, he told the five to cross the sea to enter Hong Kong, while he himself returned home.

Hoang Van Mau, one of the five, died on the way to Hong Kong while Ngo Van Thuan, Bui Van Ha, Tran Van Huan and Bui Duc Hau were arrested by local authorities and later sent to a refugee camp.

The four were sent back to Vietnam last September.

Woman gives birth on taxi

A woman gave birth to a baby on the back seat of a taxi with the help of the driver in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday.

La Thi Giang, 26, of Dong Nai Province was accompanied by a relative on the taxi heading for HCMC-based Tu Du Hospital to have her child delivered but instead finished the job halfway.

The taxi traveling from Dong Nai’s Bien Hoa City, some 60 kilometers away from the hospital, arrived in HCMC’s District 3 when the woman’s water broke.

Le Thanh Hai, the driver of Mai Linh Taxi Company, stopped the car and helped Giang’s relative to take the baby out.

He asked passers-by to help him cut the baby’s umbilical cord but no one dared to do so.

Hai then drove the taxi to the Tu Du Hospital where doctors cut the cord for the 3.4-kilogram baby boy.

The mother and her child are now in stable condition.

Late last year, a woman in HCMC gave birth in a taxi stuck in traffic jam, and another gave birth in a Jetstar Pacific plane shortly before takeoff.

Truck overturns killing four

A container truck overturned and crashed four people to death near a bridge in the southern Binh Duong Province on Wednesday afternoon.

The truck was heading for the Song Be Bridge on road DT 741 in Phu Giao District when the driver took a sharp turn and lost control of the vehicle. It flipped over and weighed down on two motorcycles on the road, crushing four people, who died at the scene. 4 victims have been identified names including a three-year-old boy. They were Do Viet Dung, 24 with Nguyen Thi Thuy Hong, 23, Dang Thi Thanh, 27, and her three-year old son.

Nguyen Thanh Trung, the driver fled the scene but was later arrested.

It took rescuers many hours to lift the 40-feet truck up and found the bodies of two others and the road became normal at 8 pm.

35 passengers were rescued in Phu Yen bus crash

Chairman of the Phu Hoa district People’s Committee Ha Trung Khang on Feb. 9 ordered an temporary end to the search for victims of a coach accident.

The coach 78K – 3704 was driven off Highway 25 into an irrigation canal in Phu Hoa district in the central province of Phu Yen on Feb. 8 with all the passengers. The canal is one of two main waterways as part the Dong Cam irrigation system and supplies water to the Tuy Hoa Plain.

Local authorities and rescue workers had accounted for 35 passengers by Feb. 8 afternoon and discovered no more victims.

Dong Cam Co Ltd closed irrigation sluice gates in an effort to search for any more bodies. Bus driver Pham Minh Dung, 48, said that between 35-40 passengers had been on the bus when the accident occurred.

Deputy Director of the Phu Hoa Police Huynh Huu Lap, told the Vietnam News Agency that 60 bus tickets had been sold, but passengers disembarked at various bus stops along the route.

Twenty passengers were hospitalised for slight trauma, but only two still under treatment at Phu Yen Hospital . 33 other passengers have returned home. Each passenger received a 500,000 VND (25 USD) allowance from the Phu Hoa authorities.

The remaining passengers were discharged from hospital in good health.

Fisherman releases endangered turtle into sea

A fisherman in the central Binh Dinh Province caught and then released an endangered green turtle into the sea Thursday.

Vo Ngoc Thanh, 45, of Quy Nhon City netted the 70-kilogram turtle while fishing off the coast of Ghenh Rang Ward.

He returned the reptile back to the sea after being told by local aquatic resources officers that it was a protected species.

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It is among five species of marine turtles found in Vietnamese waters, the others being the leatherback, hawksbill, loggerhead, and Olive Ridley.

The largest nesting site for green turtles in the country is at Con Dao National Park on the island of the same name.

Hospitals must prioritize service

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has required hospitals in the city give high priority to serving all patients.

Department director Dr. Pham Viet Thanh will hold a meeting on National Doctor Day, February 27, and will emphasize the importance of priority treatment and care of patients.

Dr. Thanh has also ordered medical clinics to ensure quality delivery of treatment to patients without allowing the Tet atmosphere to interfere in any way. Hospitals must also always stock adequate supplies of medicines for patients.

No report of narcolepsy after H1N1 vaccination in Vietnam

The health department in Hanoi has had no reported cases of narcolepsy after the World Health Organization introduced the Pandemrix-vaccination.

According to Nguyen Nhat Cam, from the Preventive Medicine Center in Hanoi, the vaccination plan against H1N1 flu had begun last September and since no cases of narcolepsy have been reported.

Pandemrix has not yet received a license from the Drug Administration of Vietnam, so the vaccine can not be used yet.

Dr. Graham Harrison, WHO’s Acting Representative in Vietnam, said in an interview that they were aware of a recent report published in Finland claiming that Pandemrix-vaccination contributed to an increase in the incidents of narcolepsy amongst individuals 4 -19 years of age.

The Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare (NIHW) had stated that the most likely explanation could be that the increase in narcolepsy was associated with other additional factors.

However, the NIHW also stated that the nature of the association between narcolepsy and Pandemrix vaccine requires deeper investigation and should not be assumed to be a casual relationship. WHO welcomed and applauded the transparency of NIHW but also agreed with NIHW that more research needs to be done, both into the facts of the data and into the possible causes of narcolepsy before any definitive conclusions could be reached.

NIHW states that in further investigations, special attention will be given to infections and other stimuli in close association with the pandemic vaccination. The significance of possible infection by other factors will be explored, as will other co-factors contributing to the onset of narcolepsy, such as epidemiologic, immunologic and genetic factors.

A number of scientific studies will be required to evaluate the possible association and may take several months to complete. WHO supports a thorough examination of any possible link between influenza A (H1N1) vaccine and narcolepsy and WHO will continue to examine the evidence as it comes.

Concerning the first fatal case of H1N1 in Hanoi, the Preventive Medicine Center said that the patient was a 52 year old man from the Dong Anh District of Hanoi. The patient was hospitalized in the Bach Mai hospital on January 22 with respiratory disorder and subsequent tests proved he was H1N1 positive.

His condition worsened with viscera failure by January 27, so his relatives took him home where he died. Health authorities disinfected his entire surroundings.

Since October 2010, nearly 14,000 H1N1 infectious cases have been reported in many European countries.

Vietnamese-American nabbed for storing guns

Ministry of Public Security police have arrested a Vietnamese-American man for “illegally storing military weapons.”

Thai Kevin Thanh, 41, was caught at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Feb 3 after security officers found two guns in his luggage on a flight bound for Hanoi.

According to the police, Thanh successfully brought the two guns and seven bullets from the US to Vietnam by air on December 2, 2010.

He then disassembled the guns and hid the parts in his house in Binh Tan District.

The police said Thanh settled down in the US in December 1982.

Storing, using and trading in guns and explosives are illegal in Vietnam.

Vietnam has vague rule over toxic mothballs

Mothballs synthesized from poisonous crystallized hydrocarbon Naphthalene have been banned in Vietnam since 2008 but are yet widely sold and used.

Nguyen Huy Nga of the Ministry of Health said that the mothball products should have been tested for Naphthalene at relevant authorities but so far, very few traders have done so.

Nga admitted that the ministry’s regulations over Naphthalene-sourced mothballs are not clear although Naphthalene’s dangers of developing hemolytic anemia in children have been reported.

There is no state agency responsible for the deadly deodorants.

Even senior officials at Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology are at a loss when asked about regulations surrounding the toxic chemical.

Consumers are of course more ignorant, Nga warned.

A recent report of 3 children deaths of Naphthalene synthesized mothballs poisoning in Australia has caused growing concern over its still widespread household use in Vietnam.

According to doctors, children are especially vulnerable to accidental poisoning of mothballs, which is extremely toxic when ingested, causing serious illness or death.

High levels of Naphthalene from swallowing, inhalation or maternal exposure during pregnancy may damage or destroy red blood cells in children and infants which is known as hemolytic anemia.

Symptoms include fatigue, lack of appetite, restlessness, pale skin, confusion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the urine, and jaundice.

The US’ International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies naphthalene as possibly carcinogenic to humans and animals.

In China, the use of Naphthalene in mothballs is forbidden.

Fire kills three Vietnamese in Malaysia

A fire Wednesday raged through a furniture store in Malaysia’s Puchong town, claming four lives including three Vietnamese, Bernama newspaper reported.

Four trucks with around 30 firefighters were mobilized to the scene to subdue the blame.

The fire was distinguished one hour later.

Police successfully rescued three among seven workers, who were sleeping on the first floor during the fire, which started at about 1am and spread rapidly within the premises.

Four victims - all workers at the store - were identified as Ma Van Ma, 26, Bao Van Kien, 28, and Ngo Yen Tai Nhung, 35 hailing from Vietnam and a Malaysian citizen B. Prabu, according to Selangor Fire and Rescue acting assistant director Anuar Harun.

The remains of the victims have been sent to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre for post-mortem examination and identification.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Puchong is a town in the Petaling district of Selangor.

International cruise ships dock at Nha Trang port

The world-famous beach destination Nha Trang in VietnamThree international cruise ships have anchored in Nha Trang port in the central province of Khanh Hoa Wednesday last week, carrying more than 2,000 visitors and crew members to the coastal city, one of the most favorite tourist destinations in Vietnam.

The Nautica and Minerva ships, with 700 and 400 passengers on board, arrived from the US whereas the Portugal ship Princess Daphne carries 300 passengers, mostly from Australia and Europe.

The passengers will spend their time sight-seeing the city, visiting famous tourist sites and sampling local cookings.

On Feb 5, the third day of the Lunar New Year or Tet holiday, Khanh Hoa province also welcomed the Artemis cruise ship from Bermuda with more than 1,800 passengers aboard.

During the Tet holidays, from Feb 3 to Feb 7, Khanh Hoa province received 95,967 visitors, a 114 percent year-on-year increase against 2010, of which international tourists account for 19,000, up 104 percent.

President launches national tree festival

President Nguyen Minh Triet launched the national tree planting campaign on the occasion of Lunar New Year in Hanoi Thursday.

Vietnam is one of the countries in the world which is most seriously affected by climate change, so enhancing environmental protection and climate change prevention are urgent tasks, President Triet said.

The President called upon relevant ministries and agencies to continue to boost information dissemination to the public, prevent actions harmful to the living environment and strictly punish organisations and individuals which violate regulations on environmental protection.

He also called on all the people nationwide to plant more trees and forest to make a better and greener life.

In 1950, Uncle Ho launched the first-ever “Tree Planting Festival.” Since then, the festival has become a tradition of the Vietnamese people.

The country plans to develop 500,000 ha of new forests in 2011, according to the forestry sector.

The UN selected 2011 as the International Year of Forests, aiming to boost sustainable forest management, preservation and development and strengthen long-term political commitments by countries on fighting forest destruction.

Forest covers 31 percent of Vietnam’s total land area.

City honors Chinese Vietnamese people

A ceremony honoring the Chinese Vietnamese community was held at the Hoa Binh Theater on February 10 with the participation of 1,800 delegates who represent for Chinese Vietnamese community in the city.

294 Chinese Vietnamese people who have made outstanding contributions in various fields like economy, culture, education, sport and charity were hornored. 109 excellent individuals also received medals and certifications of merit from the HCM City Party Committee

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee expressed her great appreciation to the contributions made by the Chinese Vietnamese community in the formation and development of the city, especially in trade, investment and production.