Vietnam: H3N2: Flu season is more severe changes

13 hours ago

After influenza A/H1N1 subsides, a period of nearly five months, average daily central tropical disease hospital received only about 20-30 cases in the examination and treatment by influenza syndrome. But in about 10 days back, the flow of patients to examination and treatment of influenza in the central hospital of tropical diseases has increased sharply, the average day about 100 patients with influenza to health manifested as cough , high fever, acute respiratory long, runny nose, sore throat irritation ...

Talking to the press on 27-8, doctor Nguyen Hong Ha - Deputy Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said the test swabs of the majority of patients showed flu this time, cause influenza A/H3N2 virus is not H1N1 influenza pandemic. Indeed, influenza virus A/H3N2 influenza virus is common, still in circulation for many years and less dangerous. For those of healthy patients benign disease evolution, possibly after 3-5 days the fever, the expression fatigue, cough can last for 10 days or 2-3 weeks after the end itself. However, if untreated or treated too late, A/H3N2 flu can also cause dangerous complications leading to pneumonia, respiratory failure, even death, especially with patients with lower resistance as pregnant women, elderly, young children, people with heart disease, chronic pneumonia, immunodeficiency disease ...

Specifically, changes in the H3N2 flu this time appear in many cases heavy young age. Epidemiological investigation on patients showed that there are many cases where a family with flu infection. Mr. Ha stressed here is that time of seasonal flu spread so strong if not better preventive measures for themselves and the community, the risk of influenza A/H3N2 epidemic continues to spread is huge.

Because the flu season has many manifestations usually mild with very common symptoms such as fever, persistent cough for a few days so most of these patients actively buy antibiotics, but fever is rarely taken on themselves to basic medical examination. Dr. Nguyen Trung Grant, Faculty of examination-Central Tropical Diseases Hospital, the patient should not arbitrarily treat flu with antibiotics that should go to the medical facility for examination and guide appropriate treatment. Because antibiotics do not work with the flu virus itself, so the antibiotic treatment is not correct and will not help patients in remission. Furthermore, expression of flu are fever, cough, easily confused with other diseases, so if not diagnosed correctly was that their own patients treated with antibiotics as causing more severe disease progression as well as family increasing drug resistance.

Doctors Hospital Central Tropical Diseases said, by influenza virus transmission from patients released into the surrounding environment, increases in this period due to cold weather. To prevent influenza, people need to make good personal hygiene, wearing masks regularly to crowded places and contact with patients, to avoid crowds when the flu, should have a handkerchief or tissue Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing ... Those early manifestation of the disease should seek medical facilities for examination and treatment.