Temperatures of around 10 Celsius degrees have been associated with a higher-than-usual number of elderly people and children requiring treatment for respiratory and cardiovascular-related diseases in recent days, doctors say.

The National Hospital of Paediatrics in Hanoi had been inundated with more than 13,000 children for check-ups and treatment this week, much higher than on normal days, said Doctor Bui Minh Hien, deputy head of the hospital's Respiratory Diseases Department.

More than 100 children from northern localities, including Hanoi, Hung Yen and Thanh Hoa, were being seen by the department each day, Hien said.

In the past two weeks, the Central Hospital of Geriatrics alone reported receiving more than 400 elderly patients, 30 percent higher than on normal days.

Doctor Nguyen Trung Anh, head of the hospital's Health Check-up Department, said problems the elderly reported were related to reticulation, blood pressure and cardiovascular issues.

Hospitals of northern up-land provinces such as Lao Cai or Lai Chau reported receiving 100-200 cases a day during the cold weather.

Doctors warned the elderly not to go out at night and in the early morning during the cold weather and to maintain their indoor exercises. They also warned parents that if their children lost weight, were tired, had fevers or had problems with their breathing, they should be taken to a hospital to be examined.-VNA