Dengue fever treatment remains weak: official

Treating dengue fever patient (Source: VNA)
The remark was made by Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of the Medical Examination and Treatment Department under the Ministry of Health, at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on December 27 to review dengue fever treatment in the southern region.

According to Khoa, dengue fever boomed in Vietnam in 2017, especially in Hanoi and northern localities.

The nation recorded a total of 181,054 dengue cases this year, with 152,659 patients hospitalised and 30 deaths reported.

The fatality rate stood at 0.03 percent, much lower than that of Malaysia (0.23 percent), Cambodia (0.23 percent) and the Philippines (0.24 percent).

However, several early-detected cases died due to weaknesses in treatment, he said.

To reduce the fatality rate, doctor Pham Van Quang stressed the need to improve the treatment capacity of local-level hospitals, particularly district hospitals and private clinics.

Meanwhile, doctor Truong Ngoc Trung from Ho Chi Minh City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases said that it is necessary to intensify training for nurses as they work directly with patients./.

VNA