Hand, foot and mouth disease increases rapidly, Ho Chi Minh City builds 3 response scenarios

Up to this point, Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 2,407 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease. Of the children hospitalized for treatment, 14 are in critical condition and require ventilators, and 1 is on dialysis.

Faced with the above situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has developed a plan to ensure the admission and treatment of hand, foot and mouth disease in the area according to 3 scenarios to respond to severe cases (from level 2A and above, estimated to account for about 10% of inpatient cases).

Bệnh tay chân miệng tăng nhanh, TP HCM xây dựng 3 kịch bản ứng phó - Ảnh 1.

Doctor examines a child with hand, foot and mouth disease at Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Scenario 1 - expected when there are less than 50 new hospitalizations/day, less than 200 inpatients and less than 20 severe cases in hospitals. With a total scale of hospital beds for hand, foot and mouth disease treatment of more than 200, of which 30 are intensive care beds. Priority is given to treating sick children at 3 specialized pediatric hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City.

The second scenario is when the number of new hospitalizations per day increases from 50-100, 200-700 inpatients and 20-70 severe cases in hospitals. At this time, the total number of beds for hand, foot and mouth disease treatment will need 700, including 80 intensive care beds. Children with hand, foot and mouth disease are treated at 3 specialized pediatric hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The third scenario is when there are 100-200 new hospitalizations per day, 700-1,400 inpatients with about 70-140 severe cases. At this time, the total number of treatment beds needed to be prepared is 1,400 with about 150 intensive care beds. Children with severe illnesses are treated at 3 specialized pediatric hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The health system classifies children for outpatient and inpatient treatment, and routes treatment to avoid local overload and limit deaths.

In addition to recommending that units urgently prepare medicines and infusions, medical equipment and supplies for the above response plans, the Department of Health has also sent an official dispatch requesting the Drug Administration to support finding more suppliers of special drugs; the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals to support speeding up the testing of related medical biologicals necessary for the treatment of hand, foot and mouth disease to promptly circulate imported medicines, serving medical examination and treatment in the current rapidly progressing epidemic situation.

In addition to actively treating patients, the three pediatric hospitals and the Tropical Diseases Hospital are also assigned to provide professional support in treating hand, foot and mouth disease for lower-level hospitals and provinces in the region, preventing cases of unsafe transfer of patients from provincial hospitals to Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health also requested the city's three Children's Hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases to continue to coordinate with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) to sequence genes to determine the severe disease-causing genotypes of EV71 from specimens of hand, foot and mouth disease patients.

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