Hospitals swamped with fever victims

HCM CITY— With dengue fever sweeping across many provinces and cities, hospitals are hard pressed to cope with the rush of patients, with many even facing a shortage of beds and medical staff.

HCM City's Paediatric Hospital Number 1, for instance, receives nearly 100 children with the disease daily, 60 per cent of them from other provinces.

HCM CITY— With dengue fever sweeping across many provinces and cities, hospitals are hard pressed to cope with the rush of patients, with many even facing a shortage of beds and medical staff.

HCM City's Paediatric Hospital Number 1, for instance, receives nearly 100 children with the disease daily, 60 per cent of them from other provinces.

Each bed has to accommodate three or four patients, with others lying in corridors.

Dr Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy head of the hospital's dengue fever ward, said that out of almost 100 children being treated, 20 were in serious condition after being admitted late.

At the Quang Nam Province General Hospital, hundreds of dengue patients have been treated since last week.

Nguyen Tan Dieu, head of the hospital's tropical diseases ward, said the number of patients had doubled since June to 144, adding other hospitals in the province faced a similar situation.

Huynh Cong Quang of the province's Preventive Medicine Centre said 241 people were hospitalised in the first six months compared to just 18 in the same period last year.

In June alone more than 100 cases were reported, he said.

In Tien Giang Province, the General Hospital on Tuesday admitted four children with dengue to the emergency ward. Sixteen others were in another ward.

Dr Truong Cong Day, head of the hospital's paediatric ward, said the number of cases had spurted in recent weeks because of the onset of the rainy season.

Ben Tre Province's Nguyen Dinh Chieu General Hospital had nearly 134 patients with dengue on Tuesday, 41 of them in serious condition.

Doctors said they had treated nearly 500 patients in July, or half the total number in the first seven months.

In the rovince's Ba Tri District, 114 patients and suspected patients were at the General Hospital on Tuesday.

Dr Le Thi Thu Nhi, its head, said with the number of patients increasing sharply, her hospital was overloaded and she had had to requisition doctors from several commune and town hospitals.

In Ha Noi, the Preventive Medicine Centre has reported nearly 500 dengue cases so far this year.

The Ministry of Health's Preventive Medicine Department said nearly 20,000 cases were reported in the first six months, including 20 victims who had died. —VNS