The municipal Department of Health will carry out inspections of all pharmacies to check the pricing and quality of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu next week, according to officials.

Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy head of the department, said at a press conference on Aug. 10 that some drug stores in the city were selling Tamiflu tablets at 448,000 VND per package while patients of the flu were administered the drug for free.

Lan said that Tamiflu sold in the drugstores might not be of good quality and could be detrimental for the health of residents.

“Tamiflu is provided to health clinics and hospitals by Vinamimex (the sole authorised importer of the drug) and the company has confirmed that it did not supply the medicine to drug-stores,” she said.

She said the department would warn residents not to buy Tamiflu at drugsores, noting that it was effect only for 48 hours, after which users would continued to be susceptible to catching the flu.

Pharmacies found violating regulations would be fined, she said. The meeting heard that the four city hospitals authorised to test for the flu – Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital , Tropical Disease Hospital and Pediatric Hospital No 1 and No 2 – were faced with an overload of people wanting the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test done.

Nguyen Van Chau, head of the department, asked that the communication agency print more brochuses on influenza A/H1N1 prevention and treatment to be distributed to all families.

He also asked all health clinics and hospitals to set up a quarantine ward for patients infected or suspected with the virus. Hospitals should equip themselves with enough protective covers for respiratory aids used for patients and immediately quarantine patients who show symptoms of the flu.

The PCR test would be offered in all areas infected with the flu, and residents in these areas allowed to have Tamiflu.

Patients with light symptoms of the flu would be treated at their own homes and monitored by local health clinics, Chau said at the meeting.

A student at the University of Sport and Physical Teaching in the capital’s Chuong My District has tested positive to A/H1N1.
The 20-year-old man, the first university student infected in the country, was hospitalised at the National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases on August 6 with flu symptoms.

“He was treated at the institute and is now in a stable health condition,” said the Hanoi Preventive Medicine Department. A university representative said health authorities were monitoring seven other students who shared a room in the university dorminatory with the man but there were no further suspected cases among its students.

The department isolated, decontaminated the school and dormitory area, and strengthened A/H1N1 prevention activities.

The Ministry of Health said more than 20 additional A/H1N1 flu cases were reported on August 10, lifting the nation’s total to 1,178, with one fatality.

Of the total, 716 have been discharged from hospitals and 462 are in stable conditions after being isolated and treated in hospitals and other medical units./.