Hundreds of students in northern province infected with influenza A

Hundreds of students in the Northern Province of Lao Cai’s Bao Yen District recently had to leave school due to cough, fever, and fatigue, physicians in Bao Yen District Health Center said that rapid testing showed they were infected with influenza A.

Seasonal flu is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses such as influenza A and influenza B. The disease occurs all year round but usually peaks in the winter-spring or the season change. Seasonal flu is transmitted directly from an infected person to a healthy person through contact.

According to the authorities, in the past week, 237 students of schools comprising No. 1 Bao Yen High School, No. 1 Pho Rang Secondary School, and No. 1 and 2 Pho Rang Primary Schools had to miss school because they had coughing, fever, and fatigue.

Meanwhile, the figure of child patients in Hanoi-based National Children's Hospital, the Military Hospital 108, the Saint Paul Hospital, Thanh Nhan Hospital, showed an increase in the number of hospitalized children due to influenza A.

Doctor Pham Thi Thuan, who is in charge of the 108 Military Central Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics, said that for the past two weeks, the department's doctors have received visits to dozens of children with influenza A every day; worse, 10 percent were hospitalized due to persistent high fever or pneumonia.

In particular, at the Hanoi-based National Children's Hospital, from the beginning of March until now, the number of children with cough and fever coming to the clinic due to influenza A has also increased very high. Many children with bronchopneumonia complications had to be hospitalized.

Influenza is a common infection that can cause widespread flu outbreaks. It can cause fever, body aches, chills, fatigue, and other symptoms.

Influenza — also known as the flu — is a contagious viral infection that attacks your respiratory system. Influenza viruses that infect humans can be classified into three main groups A, B, and C. Type A influenza infection can be serious and cause widespread outbreaks and disease.

Common symptoms of type A infection can be confused with other conditions. While in some milder cases, the flu can resolve on its own without significant symptoms, severe cases of type influenza can be life-threatening./.

By Nguyen Quoc - Translated by Anh Quan (SGGP)