A patient with dengue being treated at a hospital in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Allhospitals in the country are responsible for reporting about patients withinfectious diseases through an electronic surveillance system to enablepreventive health officials to take timely preventive action against theirspread, but many hospitals fail to report accurately.
Preventive health officialsraised the issue at a conference on dengue fever surveillance in the south heldin Ho Chi Minh City late last week.
Dr Quach Hoang My, head ofthe infectious disease control division at the Binh Duong Province PreventiveHealth Centre, said the incidence of dengue fever in the province reportedthrough the system was double the number of last year.
However, the actual numberof patients was not that high since in many cases a single patient was reportedby multiple hospitals.
Besides, many denguepatients, especially migrant workers, did not know their own address meaninghospital staff could not report addresses, he said.
This affected the plan ofgoing to patients’ neighbourhoods to carry out preventive methods in a timelyfashion, he added.
An official from the BenTre Province Preventive Health Centre said several hospitals in the provincehad provided wrong information: for instance, a patient who tested negative fordengue has been reported into the system as a patient.
The opposite too hadhappened, with a patient reported as testing negative, he added.
An official from the TienGiang Province Preventive Health Centre said many hospitals still thought thatproviding information about patients with infectious diseases through theelectronic surveillance system was not their responsibility.
"They do not spendtime to update this information, and are sometimes late," he said.
Dr Phung Duc Nhat, deputyhead of the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, said it was vital toprovide adequate information about patients with infectious diseases throughthe system.
This data would help set upa plan to forecast and an action programme against this disease, he said.
Shortcomings in the systemwould be addressed, he added.
Some officials called formore training for hospital staff to improve their efficiency in reporting.-VNA
VNA
