The Ministry of Health has asked people to help prevent another A/H1N1 flu epidemic this winter by taking precautions.
Head of the ministry's Preventative Health Department Nguyen Van Binh said that since October there had been an upward trend in the number of A/H1N1 flu cases, identified by the national flu supervision system.
Before October, only one case had been reported every few months; however since that time, in Hanoi and HCM City , 1-3 cases were reported every month, Binh said.
The ministry had asked local health departments to watch for signs of an epidemic, and isolate areas hit by the A/H1N1 virus to prevent it spreading, he said.
Doctor Nguyen Hong Ha, deputy director of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital , said flu diseases often spread quickly in crowded environments, such as schools, kindergartens and offices using air-conditioning.
Though the outbreak had been controlled, people still had to take preventive measures as the disease would be facilitated by cold weather.
People should actively pay attention to their health to discover symptom of flu and other respiratory diseases. If suffering the serious symptom such as high fever, sore throat, bellyache, vomiting and diarrhoea, people must go to health authorities for timely support and advice.
The ministry said the world had defined A/H1N1 flu as a normal disease, Binh said.
Winter was the season of respiratory diseases, and flu in particular, thus the scattered appearance of A/H1N1 cases was normal, he said.
However, the ministry still recommended people wear enough clothes and follow individual and environmental sanitation rules.
When Vietnam was most heavily affected by the A/H1N1 virus in 2008 and 2009, there were 11,000 cases of infection reported causing 40 deaths.
On January 14, the Central Tropical Disease Hospital received the first case of A/H1N1 this year.
Ha said the patient was a 24-year-old pregnant woman from Hanoi 's Dong Da District. The patient was admitted to the hospital for treatment after exhibiting a fever and cough and tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus. She was now in a stable condition, Ha said.
The patient's relatives were being closely monitored for health problems, she said.
The epidemic has also returned in HCM City with three recorded cases./.
Head of the ministry's Preventative Health Department Nguyen Van Binh said that since October there had been an upward trend in the number of A/H1N1 flu cases, identified by the national flu supervision system.
Before October, only one case had been reported every few months; however since that time, in Hanoi and HCM City , 1-3 cases were reported every month, Binh said.
The ministry had asked local health departments to watch for signs of an epidemic, and isolate areas hit by the A/H1N1 virus to prevent it spreading, he said.
Doctor Nguyen Hong Ha, deputy director of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital , said flu diseases often spread quickly in crowded environments, such as schools, kindergartens and offices using air-conditioning.
Though the outbreak had been controlled, people still had to take preventive measures as the disease would be facilitated by cold weather.
People should actively pay attention to their health to discover symptom of flu and other respiratory diseases. If suffering the serious symptom such as high fever, sore throat, bellyache, vomiting and diarrhoea, people must go to health authorities for timely support and advice.
The ministry said the world had defined A/H1N1 flu as a normal disease, Binh said.
Winter was the season of respiratory diseases, and flu in particular, thus the scattered appearance of A/H1N1 cases was normal, he said.
However, the ministry still recommended people wear enough clothes and follow individual and environmental sanitation rules.
When Vietnam was most heavily affected by the A/H1N1 virus in 2008 and 2009, there were 11,000 cases of infection reported causing 40 deaths.
On January 14, the Central Tropical Disease Hospital received the first case of A/H1N1 this year.
Ha said the patient was a 24-year-old pregnant woman from Hanoi 's Dong Da District. The patient was admitted to the hospital for treatment after exhibiting a fever and cough and tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus. She was now in a stable condition, Ha said.
The patient's relatives were being closely monitored for health problems, she said.
The epidemic has also returned in HCM City with three recorded cases./.
