Illustrative image (Source:VNA) As many as 135 health workers in several central and Central Highlands provinces seeing noted increases in the number of dengue cases took part in a training course on dengue treatment on October 5.
The participants, hailing from the central province of Khanh Hoa as well as Lam Dong and Dak Lak in the Central Highlands, were equipped with treatment methods for dengue among children and adults to pass on to their colleagues at home.
Luong Ngoc Khue, Head of the Medical Services Administration (MSA) under the Ministry of Health, stressed the need for the health sector at the grassroots level to strengthen communications given the increasing number of dengue patients.
It is essential for local medical centres to make early diagnoses, keep a close watch on patient symptoms and swiftly transfer out-of-control cases to higher-level hospitals to avoid fatalities, he said.
Following the course, which took place in Nha Trang city, an MSA delegation inspected dengue treatment procedures in a handful of hospitals in Khanh Hoa province, which together with Dak Lak, saw dengue cases rise more than three-fold over the same period last year.
According to the World Health Organisation, dengue fever is contracted through bites from dengue-infected mosquitoes, causing headaches, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rashes. There is no medication to treat the disease, only to ease the symptoms.
The disease is currently at its peak in Vietnam, with 25 deaths and 40,000 confirmed dengue cases. Ho Chi Minh City has the highest number of patients with 9,000.-VNA
