Pink eye is on the rise, Ho Chi Minh City health sector has found the cause of the disease

On the afternoon of September 8, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced that due to the increasing number of cases of pink eye coming to hospitals in the city, the city's health sector quickly surveyed and took samples of 39 patients with pink eye coming to the Eye Hospital.

Doctor examines patient with pink eye at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital

Accordingly, the rapid report results of the laboratory of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), Enterovirus and Adenovirus are the two main agents causing pink eye today. Of which, Enterovirus is dominant (86%), while the previously common agent, Adenovirus, only accounts for a small number (14%).

Among the 39 specimens, there were 20 males and 19 females (both adults and children) from Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong , Long An, Tien Giang, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

After collection, the specimens were sent to the laboratory of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Unit in collaboration with OUCRU at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HCMC) to perform multiplex PCR to detect Adenovirus, Enterovirus, Metapneumovirus and Parainfluenza viruses.

On the same morning, after PCR analysis, the research team detected Adenovirus in 5 patients, Enterovirus in 32 patients, and 2 cases where the agent was not found. No cases were positive for Metapneumovirus or Parainfluenza virus, and there were no cases of co-infection between Enterovirus and Adenovirus.

"Thus, Enterovirus and Adenovirus were the two agents found in 37/39 (95%) of the tested patients. Of these, Enterovirus was dominant (32/37, 86%), while the previously common agent, Adenovirus, only accounted for a small number (5/37, 14%). The research team continued to analyze gene decoding to accurately identify the serotype and genotype of Enterovirus and Adenovirus causing the disease" - the Department of Health informed.

News and photos: Hai Yen

Source: https://nld.com.vn/suc-khoe/dau-mat-do-tang-cao-nganh-y-te-tp-hcm-da-tim-ra-tac-nhan-gay-benh-20230908115246615.htm