Death toll from A/H1N1 flu rises to 37

Death toll from A/H1N1 flu rises to 37

QĐND – Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 19:53 (GMT+7)

The Health Ministry’s Department for Preventive Medicine and the Environment, on November 3 confirmed one more A/H1N1 flu-related fatality in Hanoi, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease in Vietnam so far to 37.

The latest casualty was a 38-year-old man living in Yen Ha ward, Yen Vien township. The man, who suffered from kidney disease one year ago, was admitted to the National Institute for Infectious and Tropical Disease on October 5, three days after exhibiting a high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

He had tested positive for A/H1N1 virus on October 6, but when re-tested for the deadly virus three days later, the results proved negative.

The patient died on October 31 although he was being treated with Tamiflu and anti-biotics.

As of 17:00 on November 2, Vietnam had 10,605 A/H1N1 confirmed infections, including 37 fatalities. Of the infections, 10,344 have recovered and already been discharged from hospital.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND Bookmark & Share

Ukraine closes all schools to fight swine flu

Urging its citizens not to panic, Ukraine on Monday closed the nation’s schools for a week to avoid the spread of swine flu and suggested that nightclubs, cinemas and food markets in the west also shut down.

The World Health Organization said Monday there was no evidence that Ukraine had a bad outbreak of swine flu but at the government’s request it had sent a health team there to help the country cope.

“But this is not an indication that the situation is severe,” said WHO spokeswoman Liuba Negru. “The information we have gotten (from the government), we have to double-check it and make sure it is real, evidence-based information.”

A woman wears a face mask as a precaution against flue at a bus stop in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, with a poster advertising presidential candidate former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, in the background.

Ukraine’s Health Ministry said Monday that 70 people in the nation of 40 million have died of flu, but did not say how many of those deaths were related to swine flu. Worldwide, outbreaks of regular seasonal flu claim 50,000 lives each year.

Nevertheless, all schools have been closed for a week across Ukraine, even in the capital, Kiev, where there have been no confirmed cases of swine flu.

In western Ukraine, local authorities advised people to travel only when necessary, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said.

All outdoor markets have been closed in the western region of Lviv, where the governor also urged cinemas, cafes, nightclubs and theaters to shut down until further notice.

Some observers, including the speaker of the parliament, Vladimir Litvin, suggested that these measures are the result of political wrangling ahead of the country’s presidential election in January. The pivotal vote could overturn the 2004 Orange Revolution that swept a pro-Western government to power.

“We are seeing a political competition to see who will be the first to lead this process (of fighting swine flu),” Litvin said, according to the UNIAN news agency.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko met a Swiss shipment of anti-viral drugs at the Kiev airport on Monday.

“The government has declared the situation an epidemic, but there is absolutely no need to panic,” she declared on national television.

Her main rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, said thousands of people were infected and called for assistance from NATO, the European Commission, the United States, Russia and other countries.

Konstantin Bondarenko, director of the Gorshenin Institute, a political consultancy, said that Tymoshenko has the most to lose from public sentiment over the outbreak, as state health officials answer to her.

“Right now all the candidates are weighing their political options, looking around for a theme, and this is a very hot topic right now. The panic is there, and they are acting on it,” Bondarenko said.

After receiving the shipment of 300,000 doses of Tamiflu at Kiev‘s Borispol airport, Tymoshenko said her government plans to increase its hoard of the drug by another 300,000 to 950,000 doses.

“This is the supply that will reliably protect Ukraine,” Tymoshenko said, ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Viktor Yanukovych, the Regions’ Party candidate for the presidency, has not commented on the swine flu uproar. Yanukovych, who was beaten in 2005 by Yushchenko, is leading in the polls with a platform that emphasizes closer ties with Russia.

During the past five years of Yushchenko’s presidency, relations with Moscow reached historic lows. Yushchenko’s approval ratings at home have fallen to single digits in the wake of the economic crisis, which hit Ukraine hard, and years of political gridlock with Tymoshenko.

Source: SGGP Bookmark & Share

New outbreak of H5N1 flu reported in Dien Bien

New outbreak of H5N1 flu reported in Dien Bien

QĐND – Monday, November 02, 2009, 20:25 (GMT+7)

A new outbreak of H5N1 flu has been detected in the northwestern province of Dien Bien.  

Many ducks and chickens were found sick without any apparent reason in nine households in the communes of Noong Luong and Thanh Yen in Dien Bien district on October 23.

The provincial veterinary department has taken 10 samples from the duck flock and worked with the local authorities to cull nearly 2,300 birds.

After the new outbreak was officially confirmed, the veterinary branch has asked the province to control the transportation of poultry. Over the past week, preventive measures have been taken to prevent the epidemic from spreading to nearby areas.

Tran Thi Dan, deputy head of the provincial veterinary department, said that health workers have disinfected the affected areas once a day, controlled the transportation of poultry in the province and investigated all sick livestock immediately.

Source: VOV

Source: QDND Bookmark & Share

Health Ministry plans 1.5mil free doses of swine flu vaccine

Health Ministry plans 1.5mil free doses of swine flu vaccine

QĐND – Friday, October 30, 2009, 20:48 (GMT+7)

Deputy health minister Trinh Quan Huan said on October 29 that the ministry is about to submit to the government a plan to vaccinate around 500,000 highly-risk individuals against A/H1N1.

Huan said at first, free vaccination will be provided to 500,000 people, including pregnant women, those suffering chronic diseases and, healthcare workers treating A/H1N1 patients in some provinces and cities with high numbers of swine flu cases like Hanoi and HCM City. 

Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the Central Epidemiology Institute, said these people have to show documents proving their health conditions. 

Besides the above 500,000 vaccine doses, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will also supply Vietnam 1 million doses, although the date is yet to be fixed, Huan announced. 

Vietnam only permits the import of vaccines that are recommended by the WHO, which have been used safely in the US and Europe. 

GSK will start to import A/H1N1 vaccine to Vietnam from  December 2009. 

Source: VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre 

Source: QDND Bookmark & Share

Three more A/H1N1 flu deaths confirmed

The Department for Preventive Medicine and Environment confirmed on October 27 three more deaths due to the A/H1N1 virus, bringing the death toll to 35 so far.

One of the cases was in the central region and the other two were in the Central Highlands, including an infant under the age of one year.

Medics take a flu patient to hospital (Photo: VNA)

Ignorance of the severity of the disease and late hospitalisation were blamed for all these deaths.

One case, a man in the central city of Danang was said to have treated himself at home for four days with a self-prescription. He even went to the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum on October 18-19 on an assignment when he was already suffering from a high fever. Brought to the Danang hospital on October 21, the 41-year old man was diagnosed with an A/H1N1 flu virus-related pneumonia and died on October 24 despite having been promptly treated with Tamiflu. Two days later the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute confirmed that he tested positive for the epidemic.

The other case in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak was a 27-year old man. He was brought to the provincial hospital on October 9 for the treatment of chronic malaria. On October 13, the patient had a high fever, heavy coughing and was suffering breathing problems. Although he tested positive for the A/H1N1 flu and was under strict treatment with Tamiflu and anti-biotics, the man fled the hospital at 18h30 on October 13 and died at his home on October 15.

The last case was a 10 month-old girl also in Dak Lak province. She was only brought to the hospital four days after catching high fever and coughing hard with sputum. The little girl was in such a critical condition at the time of hospitalisation that there was little chance of survival despite a full treatment of Tamiflu and anti-biotics. She tested positive to the virus on October 21 and died five days later.

Source: SGGP Bookmark & Share

Swine flu plan needs accurate forecasting

HA NOI — Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has asked the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide an accurate forecast for the A/H1N1 flu situation in order to set up an appropriate plan for pandemic prevention.

Nhan was speaking yesterday at the weekly meeting of the Steering Committee for A/H1N1 flu pandemic prevention in Ha Noi.

“Lower level hospitals should especially strengthen their treatment procedures in order to reduce pressure on crowded central hospitals”.

He also suggested that the health sector could use military hospitals to treat non-military personnel infected with the flu.

The Ministry of Health also reported that a pregnant woman living in Xuan Que Commune in Dong Nai Province became the 16th death caused by the flu.

The 15-year-old woman was hospitalised in the Dong Nai General Hospital on September 25. She was sent to the Cho Ray Hospital the following day, where doctors performed an operation in order to save her child. The HCM City‘s Pasteur Institute on September 29 confirmed that she was infected with A/H1N1.

The patient died later that day.

The baby did survive the operation and was in good health and released from the hospital yesterday.

Director of the Preventive Medicine and Environment Department Nguyen Huy Nga said that 14 out of 15 fatalities caused by A/H1N1 belonged to high-risk groups. Only two of the 15 had been treated with Tamiflu within 48 hours of contracting the flu.

Nga also said that the ministry would issue instructions concerning A/H1N1 to homes soon to cope with overcrowded hospitals.

The National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases has been receiving 250-300 people a day, who need influenza examinations.

As of yesterday the country reported 205 A/H1N1 new flu cases, which brings the country’s total to 9,058 reported cases, including 16 fatalities. Nationwide, only four provinces of Bac Can, Cao Bang, Dien Bien and Lai Chau have yet to report any A/H1N1 cases. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Pregnant woman’s death marks nation’s 15th swine flu casualty

HA NOI — A pregnant woman in HCM City died yesterday from swine flu, becoming the fifteenth fatality in Viet Nam, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Preventive Medicine and Environment Department.

According to the HCM City Health Department, the woman, who lived in Can Gio District, was 28 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

She was admitted to Can Gio District Hospital with a fever and flu-like symptoms on September 22.

The 21-year-old woman was sent to HCM City’s Heart Institute where she was put in intensive care and put on a ventilator. She was also treated with Tamiflu, Nga said.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute confirmed that the woman had tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus on September 23. She died on Sunday.

The department earlier reported that a 13-year-old boy had died of A/H1N1 flu on September 25. The patient, who was obese, lived in Can Duoc District, southern Long An Province. He had developed flu-like symptoms four days before being taken to Can Duoc District General Hospital with a high fever, and breathing difficulties. He was sent to the HCM City Tropical Diseases Institute where he was put in intensive care.

He died two days later from pneumonia, respiratory failure due to the A/H1N1 virus, which was aggravated by his high blood pressure. He also suffered kidney failure, according to the department.

The Health Ministry yesterday reported 248 new A/H1N1 flu cases, of which 213 are in the south, 20 in the north, nine in the central provinces and six in the Central Highlands.

As of yesterday, there have been 8,853 A/H1N1 flu cases reported in Viet Nam.

A temporary hospital set up a month ago in HCM City’s District 3 to monitor and treat influenza A/H1N1 patients can be replicated nationwide, an official from the city’s Department of Health said on Monday.

The 100-bed hospital has received and treated 200 patients, 170 of whom tested positive for swine flu. No case was transferred to regular city hospitals, said Phan Van Nghiem, head of the HCM City Health Department’s Medical Profession Office.

The hospital has three wards including one for health personnel, one for check-ups and the other for treating and quarantining patients with symptoms of swine flu pending test result.—

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Death in Ben Tre confirmed as tenth swine flu fatality

Patients being treated in southern Binh Dinh Province. Another flu fatality was reported on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

HA NOI — A 59-year-old woman who died on Monday in southern Ben Tre Province has been confirmed as the 10th A/H1N1 flu fatality in Viet Nam.

The death was reported by the Ministry of Health (MoH) at the weekly meeting of the Steering Committee for A/H1N1 flu pandemic prevention yesterday.

“The patient died of respiration failure and serious pneumonia brought on by chronic diabetes and the A/H1N1 flu virus,” said the Director of the Preventive Medicine and Environment Department of MoH, Nguyen Huy Nga.

The victim had been admitted to An Binh Dong District Hospital on September 16 and Ben Tre Hospital one day later.

According to the director of HCM City Health Department, Nguyen Van Chau, A/H1N1 carriers who suffered from chronic diseases were more susceptible to death by the virus.

Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Nguyen Tran Hien said that 37 per cent of people with respiratory symptoms had been infected with the flu virus.

“Ninety per cent of flu patients are infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus. The rate reached 100 per cent at supervision sites at Nhi Dong 1 Hospital in HCM City, Khanh Hoa General Hospital in central Khanh Hoa Province and Thanh Xuan Bac District in Ha Noi,” said Hien.

“The pandemic has spread wide throughout the community,” Hien said.

A representative of the National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases said that 40 per cent of people going to the institute for examinations were going for flu-related symptoms.

The institute was currently overloaded due to the A/H1N1 flu pandemic and the dengue fever outbreak.

MoH yesterday reported 194 new A/H1N1 flu cases, bringing the nation‘s total to 7,636 cases, including 10 fatalities, in more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide.

The United States will support Viet Nam’s efforts to combat avian and pandemic influenza with a three-year project, with funding for the first year beginning September 2009, valued at US$3.6 million, the US embassy in Ha Noi has announced.

The project will focus its work in five provinces—Can Tho, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Kien Giang and Quang Tri—as the base for testing and applying risk reduction practices in local settings. Other provinces will be included as they become appropriate and feasible.

Special measures

Working at a local level in the fields of health, agriculture and rural development officials, activities will include public communication campaigns and training for animal and human health workers to help them and their communities monitor, prevent and control avian and pandemic influenza.

The project will also encourage additional villages to take special measures to reduce the risk and spread of disease, especially in provinces at high risk of avian influenza.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected Abt Associates to carry out the project in close co-operation with the Vietnamese Government. With the experiences and lessons learned from programmes carried out over the last three years, this project will identify and spread the best practices and enhance surveillance techniques to control and prevent avian flu and other forms of influenza.

USAID activities in Viet Nam include joint cross-border pandemic preventing exercises with China and Laos, support to develop and improve provincial pandemic preparedness plans, training of animal health workers and veterinarians, public communication campaigns and journalist training in A/H1N1 prevention and control measures.

Pending the continued availability of funds, USAID planned to continue the activity for two additional years, bringing its total contribution to $10 million.

Since 2005, the US government has allocated $50 million to support Viet Nam’s prog-rammes to combat avian and pandemic influenza. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

H1N1 flu suspected in pair of deaths

HA NOI — Two patients with swine flu died at the weekend in general hospitals in Central Highland Dak Lak Province and southern Binh Phuoc Province.

The first, a 46-year-old woman in Krong Pac District’s Hoa An Commune, died yesterday after three days at the hospital with fever and difficulty breathing.

The second patient, aged 42, from Dong Phu District’s Dong Tam Commune, fell ill on Tuesday, was admitted to the provincial General Hospital on Friday and died on Saturday.

Both has been tested positive for A/H1N1 flu at local hospitals.

The Ministry of Health will officially confirm the reason behind the deaths today. If the patients are confirmed to have been suffering from swine flu, Viet Nam would have had nine deaths from the disease.

Meanwhile, in central Binh Dinh Province, the Tran Quang Dieu High School in Hoai An District has become the third in the province to have a field hospital established on the premises to treat its students. The school has more than 50 students suspected positive for the A/H1N1 flu virus.

All schools in the province’s An Nhon District with A/H1N1 cases had been shut down until the end of the month, district health centre director Le Thai Binh said. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

H1N1 flu death toll hits to nine

H1N1 flu death toll hits to nine

HA NOI — The Ministry of Health has confirmed two new deaths from swine flu (A/H1N1), raising deaths in Viet Nam to nine.

According to the Preventive Medicine and Environment Department, both patients, a 46-year-old woman from the Central Highland province of Dak Lak, and a 42-year-old man from the southern province of Binh Phuoc, suffered from heart disease.

Viet Nam has confirmed 7,156 cases of A/H1N1, including 198 patients yesterday, according to the ministry.

Thousands win scholarships

HA NOI — About 6,000 students were awarded scholarships by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Sai Gon Commercial Bank yesterday in Ha Noi.

The students, who have all had a difficult upbringing, gained good study results.

The bank has mobilised social capital by contributing VND500 for every VND1 million lodged at the bank.

Families moved from landslide areas

BAC KAN — About 60 households in a landslide area in Khen Len hamlet, Pac Nam district in northern Bac Kan Province, were moved to resettlement areas yesterday, according to the district’s People’s Committee.

The households have been promised land for accommodation and cultivation. However, this has been made difficult because of the sloping land.

The last landslide in the hamlet on July 4 left 10 dead and many injured. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn