[health-vn] VN free from A/H1N1 flu, but acute diarrhea spreads to five provinces

[Vern Weitzel]

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/Health/2009/05/847355/


VN free from A/H1N1 flu, but acute diarrhea spreads to five provinces
11:29' 13/05/2009 (GMT+7)

Passengers at the HCM City-based Tan Son Nhat Airport.

VietNamNet Bridge – Some international passengers who have arrived in Vietnam 
with high temperatures have been kept at hospitals here in the last several days 
but Vietnam is still free from A/H1N1 flu, the Health Ministry said on May 12.

On May 11, a Canadian passenger who arrived from India via Cambodia was found at 
the border crossing in southern Tay Ninh Province to have an elevated body 
temperature. Tests at the Tropical Disease Hospital in Hanoi showed that the man 
was free of the dangerous flu.

On May 10-11, two people who arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport were 
hospitalized with high temperatures. One was a 54 year-old man who returned from 
Thailand to his home in HCM City. The other was a Japanese passenger, 56.  Tests 
revealed that both of them were infected with ‘normal’ A/H3 flu.

Notably, two Vietnamese children arriving on a flight from Taiwan on May 9 were 
found to have high temperatures at Tan Son Nhat Airport.  However, one child was 
taken home to nearby Long An province by his mother without the permission of 
health workers. The HCM City Department of Health urgently informed the Long An 
Health Department of this case.

In the 24 hour period from 1pm May 11, 6,140 people entered Vietnam via Tan Son 
Nhat Airport, including 2,329 passengers from the countries where A/H1N1 flu 
cases have been reported, such as South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan, the US 
and France.

A man who is suspected of being infected by A/H1N1 flu was isolated for 
treatment at the Da Nang Hospital on May 12. Da Nang City Health Department 
Deputy Director Nguyen Ut said this man, 28, returned to Vietnam from Hong Kong 
and Macau on May 2, without any symptoms of flu. On May 5, he got a fever. He 
went to the Da Nang Hospital for a health check on May 7 with symptoms of flu 
and was kept at the hospital. Blood samples were sent to Hanoi for testing.

The health official said that since April 29, 658 air and sea travellers have 
entered Vietnam via Da Nang but none with high body temperature.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on May 12 declared that an epidemic of acute 
diarrhea has spread to five provinces.  According to the Central Epidemiology 
Institute, from May 6-11, there were five cases positive to vibrio cholerae 
bacterium, including three in the central province of Thanh Hoa, one in Bac Ninh 
and one in Nam Dinh provinces, both in the north, out of 54 acute diarrhea 
cases. The Institute reported a total of 25 cases positive to cholera bacterium 
between April 20 to May 11.

Further, in the port city of Hai Phong, ten cases of acute diarrhea, including 
four positive to cholera bacterium were recorded by May 12, said the city’s 
Health Department Director Nguyen Van Vy. In adjacent Thanh Hoa, another 11 
patients have tested positive to cholera bacterium.

The Health Ministry said acute diarrhea patients typically ate some unsafe food 
like dog meat, shrimp paste, raw vegetables and street food.
PV