Over recent days Da Nang, and elsewhere in the mid-central region, has been experiencing a fierce heatwave with daytime temperatures ranging between 38 and 39°C.  It has dramatically affected the lives of local people, with many children in particular now suffering from heat-related illnesses.

Parents with their children waiting for medical examinations at the Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital

There has been a marked increase in the number of children admitted to the city’s Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital for the treatment of acute diarrhea, food poisoning, acute respiratory infections, and viral fevers.

Over recent days, the hospital has been receiving an average of 700 child outpatients each day from the city and other regional localities.

Doctor Le Thanh Cam, the Deputy Head of the General Emergency Department, explained that the seasonal weather change from spring to summer usually encourages the development of viruses and bacteria which are known to directly cause some diseases.  To make the problem worse, the continuous hot weather and the accompanying high humidity has also made the human body more susceptible to heat stroke and dehydration, thereby resulting in digestive and respiratory illnesses.

Doctor Cam noted that, during extremely hot days, parents should ensure good personal hygiene and nutritional meals for their children, as well as make sure that they drink enough water and avoid excessive exposure to direct sunlight between 10.00am and 3.00pm each day.  

He added that if children show symptoms of rhinitis, a sore throat or a runny nose, they should be taken to hospital as soon as possible to avoid possible complications. 

Parents with their children waiting for medical examinations at the Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital

Meanwhile, the city has also seen the complicated development of epidemic diseases, especially dengue fever.

Over the past 2 weeks, a total of 140 cases of dengue fever have been recorded in the city, and a total of 11 hot spots for outbreaks of this disease have been identified locally.  Also, 37 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease and 65 cases of chickenpox have also been reported across the city.

The Director of the Da Nang Preventive Medicine Centre, Dr Ton That Thanh, said that as the hot weather continues the number of infectious cases of diarrhea, hand, foot and mouth disease, chickenpox, and conjunctivitis is expected to grow in the days ahead. 

In an effort to deal with this matter of deep concern, Doctor Thanh underlined the need to take even more effective measures to prevent any more outbreaks of such diseases in the city. 

In particular, importance should be attached to raising the public’s awareness of epidemic prevention measures including washing hands with soap, cooking food well, drinking boiled water, sleeping under mosquito nets, and killing mosquito larvae, all to minimise infectious and fatal cases of the epidemic diseases.