Seven Children Die As Mystery Virus Hits (Viet)Nam

IOL ^ | 1-8-2004

[blam]

Seven children die as mystery virus hits Nam

January 08 2004 at 01:39PM

Hanoi - Seven children aged between nine months and 12 have died from a mysterious respiratory disease in the Vietnamese capital, but health officials have ruled out Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome as the cause, state media said on Thursday.

Since mid-October, twelve children have been admitted to Hanoi's Central Paediatric Hospital with a high fever and a chesty cough. Their symptoms have not reacted to antibiotics.

Hospital doctors refused to comment Thursday on the illness, but the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper quoted Professor Hoang Thuy Long, director of the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology as saying it is a Type A flu virus and not SARS.

Seven of the 12 children died in the hospital, while five others are receiving treatment in an isolation ward, he said following a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Health.

'We still don't know what kind of infection it is' Pascale Brudon, the World Heath Organisation's representative to Vietnam, said two were recovering but three were in a poor condition. The mother of one of the dead victims has also been struck down with the virus and was undergoing treatment at Hanoi's Bach Mai hospital.

"We still don't know what kind of infection it is, but it is probably viral because antibiotics have had no effect," she told AFP.

Brudon, however, said laboratory tests carried out on one of the children revealed that it was not the coronavirus, which causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

She also said circumstantial evidence suggested it was not a recurrence of SARS, which resulted in the deaths of five people out of 63 infected in Vietnam last year.

Medical personnel treating the victims have not been affected, while those infected come from a number of different parts of northern Vietnam, had not travelled abroad and had not come into contact with foreigners, Brudon said.

'It is probably viral because antibiotics have had no effect'

As predicted by the WHO, SARS has recently made a comeback in the region.

China reported a new suspected SARS case on Thursday after releasing its only confirmed patient.

Vietnam's health ministry has instructed local authorities in provinces and cities to strengthen detection measures at airports, ports and land border gates, particularly for those coming from affected areas.

SARS first emerged in China's southern Guangdong province in November 2002 and quickly spread to become a global menace.

It struck down over 8 000 people and left nearly 800 dead in 32 countries, with 349 of the fatalities and 5 327 of the infections recorded in China. - Sapa-AFP

[DCPatriot]

< Putting on my tinfoil hat >

I don't trust China.

I think that SARS is a weapon of mass destruction that has recently gone from the laboratory to the next stage...testing it out in population.

They already have the antidote and want to see how effective it could be.

< /remove tinfoil hat >

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[dagar]

I wonder how many die from the Commie virus every year?

A thousand appologies comrade, that would upset the dialectic.

[blam]

Ping.

[VeritatisSplendor]

was that a , or a ? Mrs VS

[VeritatisSplendor]

argh html troubles

I meant, was that a < sarcasm > < tinfoil hat > or a < semi-serious > < tinfoil hat >

Mrs VS

[blam]

China Confirms New SARS Suspect (BBC, 1-8-2004)

[angkor]

When I was in south Vietnam this past fall one of the neighborhood infants got something like this, and was in the hospital for four days.

I suspect it's just the flu.

[DCPatriot]

Semi-Serious.....

I see that you signed up in FreeRepublic 5 days before I did.

Happy New Year!