Vietnam’s health ministry has suspended the trade and use of three batches of a human blood protein product after European experts said it may carry a fatal brain disease. The trade committee under the Delegation of European Union to Vietnam, the Italian Medicines Agency and Hungary’s National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition have all warned about the transmission risks of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a fatal brain disorder, from three batches of Albumin (Human) 20 percent, a product made from a protein in human blood plasma to treat diseases connected to blood and cardiovascular conditions. Kedrion Spa in Italy and Human BioPlazma Kft. in Hungary produced the batches, which were imported into Vietnam by the Saigon-based Binh Viet Duc Company and distributed by the Central Pharmaceutical CPC1. JSC. in the city. Experts are conducting further tests, and there have been no reports of problems among patients the product has been administered to in … [Read more...]
Experts sound alarm bells over new, deadly infectious diseases
Experts sound alarm bells over new, deadly infectious diseases (26-10-2007) A pneumonia patient receives treatment. A scientific workshop held in HCM City on Wednesday revealed that 40 infectious diseases have been identified in the past 30 years. — VNA/VNS Photo Huu Oai HCM CITY — Close international collaboration is needed to understand the complex pattern of newly emerging infectious diseases like dengue haemorrhagic fever, varicella and rubella, Nguyen Tran Chinh, a leading medical expert has said. Chinh, the director of the HCM City-based Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD), made the comment in his opening speech at a scientific workshop held in HCM City on Wednesday to discuss challenges facing the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Since the 1970s at least one new infectious disease was reported every year. Forty such diseases have in fact been identified in the past 30 years. In the last five years the World Health Organisation had dealt with … [Read more...]
HCM City: 20 children die of hand-foot-mouth disease
VietNamNet Bridge - The death of a child with the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) a few days ago has taken the toll among children in Ho Chi Minh City to 20. So far this year, 25 children with HFMD died at the Pediatrics Hospital I, said Dr Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Infectious Diseases Department of the hospital. The death toll at the Pediatrics Hospital II and the Tropical Diseases Hospital are 17 and 4 respectively. Of the total 46 dead children, 20 are from HCMC. From July 7 to 13, the city had 620 children infected by the disease. The pandemic is developing complicatedly, Dr Khanh said. Currently, the number of children treated for HFMD at the Pediatrics Hospital I is 170 per day on average, he said. On July 14, a child from the southern province of An Giang died at the hospital. On July 15, a 12-month-old Khmer child was hospitalized in critical condition. Meanwhile, the Pediatrics II Hospital receives 60 new cases every day. Two died of the disease last … [Read more...]
Actively preventing infectious diseases after floods in Central Vietnam
The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health has recommended that people be on alert to prevent infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, sore eye, flu and sore throat, which often occur after floods. Accordingly, local people must carry out environmental hygiene activities after heavy rain and flood; use powdered lime or chemicals when burying dead animals to avoid infectious epidemics; and coordinate with the health sector to spray chemicals to exterminate disease-transmitting insects in danger areas. Earlier, the Ministry of Health requested local provincial health departments in the central region and its units to implement remedial actions to deal with the floods, while ensuring sanitation and food safety in places which have gone through flooding and enhancing post-flood disease prevention. Medical units were urged to closely coordinate with functional forces to support victims affected by the flood and provide necessities, medicines and sanitation chemicals … [Read more...]
Vaccine success holds hope for end to deadly scourge of Ebola
The world is for the first time on the verge of being able to protect humans against Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as data from a trial in Guinea showed a vaccine was 100 percent effective. Initial results from the trial, which tested Merck and NewLink Genetics’ VSV-ZEBOV vaccine on some 4,000 people who had been in close contact with a confirmed Ebola case, showed 100 percent protection after 10 days. The results were described as "remarkable" and "game changing" by global health specialists. "We believe that the world is on the verge of an efficacious Ebola vaccine," WHO vaccine expert Marie Paule Kieny told reporters in a briefing from Geneva. The vaccine could now be used to help end the worst recorded outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 11,200 people in West Africa since it began in December 2013. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the results, published online in the medical journal The Lancet, were an "extremely promising … [Read more...]
First US case of deadly MERS virus confirmed: CDC
A healthcare worker who had traveled to Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS), an often fatal illness, raising new concerns about the rapid spread of such diseases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The male patient traveled via a British Airways flight on April 24 from Riyadh to London, where he changed flights at Heathrow airport to fly to the United States. He landed in Chicago and took a bus to an undisclosed city in Indiana. On April 27, he experienced respiratory symptoms, including fever, cough and shortness of breath. According to the Indiana State Department of Health, the man visited the emergency department at Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, on April 28 and was admitted that same day. Because of his travel history, Indiana health officials tested him for MERS, and sent the samples to the CDC, which confirmed the presence of the virus on Friday. The virus is similar to the one … [Read more...]
Top 10 worst diseases in Vietnam announced
The Ministry of Health has just announced 10 diseases that recorded the highest mortality rates in 2012. Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Preventive Medicine Department announced the data at the conference about preventive medicine on March 25 in Hanoi. Rabies stays on top of the list with 98 fatal cases despite a 10% decline compared to 2011. The disease was concentrated mostly in the provinces of Son La, Yen Bai, Ha Giang and Dien Bien. Dengue fever spread mostly in the southern region and left 80 dead. Also on the list are hand-foot-mouth, viral encephalitis, neonatal tetanus, malaria, meningitis, swine streptococcus, diarrhoea and H5N1. "Many of these diseases could have been prevented from spreading." Binh said. He also said the situation would continue to be complicated in 2013 and everyone must prepare to prevent and control diseases. Dengue fever and the diarrhoea diseases, which had increased mortality rates by 31% and 20% respectively compared to previous year, will be under … [Read more...]
Transparency, teamwork key to beating deadly MERS outbreak
Virology and infectious disease specialists fought for almost two years to persuade secretive Saudi authorities to share scientific data that may have helped them halt the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) there more swiftly. Controlling the RoK outbreak -- which has already infected some 30 people, killing two so far - will require a level of openness that Saudi Arabia has only now begun to adopt. "The first case of MERS was reported almost three years ago, and yet the disease remains a serious health threat to the global community, with many basic questions ... unanswered," said Alimuddin Zumla, a University College London professor of infectious diseases and international health who co-wrote an analysis of the MERS situation in The Lancet on June 3. Zumla told Reuters he had already seen worrying signs in Seoul - that the response is slow and that health officials are not keen on external help. He urged authorities there to open up, share data and allow … [Read more...]
Ly Son fishing boat attacked: 1 dead, 1 missing
Ly Son fishing boat attacked: 1 dead, 1 missing Unknown ship attacked and sunk a fishing boat with six aboard from Ly Son island in Quang Ngai killing one and leaving another accounted for on May 25. Fishing vessel QN96180TS, anchored in Haiphong’s waters and owned by Dang Van Dum, sent out a distress signal at 3am after it came under attacked by a yet unidentified vessel. Rescuers immediately evacuated the captain of the fishing vessel to Co To island where he later died despite the best efforts of medical personnel. One fisherman remains missing and is presumed to have gone down with the boat after it capsized and sank. Five other fishermen were rescued by a fishing vessel from Haiphong responding to the distress call. After receiving information about the incident, Quang Ninh province’s leaders directed the relevant authorities to Co To island to timely rescue and conduct investigation to identify the cause of accident. Two large fishing boats launched in Da … [Read more...]
Thailand, Viet Nam and Indonesia to collaborate on major study of sepsis, a deadly medical condition
BANGKOK – Citing a need to respond to important infectious disease threats in South East Asia, public health officials from Thailand, Viet Nam and Indonesia agreed today to actively collaborate on a new study on sepsis, an major cause of death due to infectious diseases in the region. The extent of sepsis in South East Asia is currently unknown but health care experts suspect that it accounts for a substantial number of deaths there. Preliminary results from a currently unpublished Thai study show that one in 6 patients who presented with sepsis died, a figure much higher than expected. "We need to know the extent of sepsis, its causes and outcomes, so we can treat it more effectively and thereby save thousands oflives in South East Asia," said Dr Nguyen Tran Hien, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Ministry of Health, Viet Nam, and Chair of the Governing Board of SEAICRN, speaking today at SEAICRNs annual meeting. The sepsis study, which began late … [Read more...]