Vietnam is capable of conducting test for Ebola virus, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department Tran Dac Phu said at a video conference of the Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control on October 20.
The ministry has built procedures for Ebola screening tests in line with guidance issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Phu said, adding that four hospitals have had their labs verified as capable of conducting the tests.
The hospitals are the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases.
The Preventive Medicine Department reported that from August 11 to October 17, a total of 277 people arrived in Vietnam from Ebola-hit countries. They all had been given health checks and then placed under home-based medical quarantine for 21 days after arrival. By now only 29 people are still in the 21-day monitoring period, and no case of infection is found so far in the country.
The Health Ministry will set up four rapid response teams in the four main regions to provide timely guidance to local medical staff in case any suspected infection is reported. All hospitals nationwide have been instructed to stock up on protective gears, medicine and medical equipment in order to be prepared for the disease, which spreads quickly and has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent, officials said at the meeting.
The ministry also affirmed that drills on receiving, isolating and treating Ebola patients will be conducted within this month at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the Hue Central Hospital and the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. A hotline will be set up to provide technical advice on Ebola prevention to medical staff nationwide.
According to WHO statistics, from December 2013 to October 19, 2014, there were 9,284 people contracting Ebola, of whom 4,604 people succumbed to the disease. Besides the West African countries, one case was reported in Spain and three in the US, including one death.-VNA
The ministry has built procedures for Ebola screening tests in line with guidance issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Phu said, adding that four hospitals have had their labs verified as capable of conducting the tests.
The hospitals are the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases.
The Preventive Medicine Department reported that from August 11 to October 17, a total of 277 people arrived in Vietnam from Ebola-hit countries. They all had been given health checks and then placed under home-based medical quarantine for 21 days after arrival. By now only 29 people are still in the 21-day monitoring period, and no case of infection is found so far in the country.
The Health Ministry will set up four rapid response teams in the four main regions to provide timely guidance to local medical staff in case any suspected infection is reported. All hospitals nationwide have been instructed to stock up on protective gears, medicine and medical equipment in order to be prepared for the disease, which spreads quickly and has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent, officials said at the meeting.
The ministry also affirmed that drills on receiving, isolating and treating Ebola patients will be conducted within this month at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the Hue Central Hospital and the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. A hotline will be set up to provide technical advice on Ebola prevention to medical staff nationwide.
According to WHO statistics, from December 2013 to October 19, 2014, there were 9,284 people contracting Ebola, of whom 4,604 people succumbed to the disease. Besides the West African countries, one case was reported in Spain and three in the US, including one death.-VNA
