Changing seasons cause an increase in children getting flu and pneumococcal disease, with many cases of pneumonia complications.

At the 11th Vietnam - US Pediatric Conference, in addition to recording a sudden increase in children with influenza, in the first 9 months of 2025, pneumococcus accounted for 12% of bacterial strains isolated in inpatient areas.

On November 13, Bach Mai Hospital organized the 11th Vietnam - US Pediatric Conference with the participation of many domestic and international pediatricians from Colorado School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic Hospital, USA.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, spoke.

At the conference, Vietnamese and American pediatric experts discussed nearly 10 different topics, such as pediatric emergency resuscitation, infectious diseases, immune-neurological diseases, diagnostic imaging, digestive-nutrition diseases and newborn care...

Sharing at the conference, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nam - Pediatric Center, Bach Mai Hospital - said that at the Pediatric Center - Bach Mai Hospital, in the first 9 months of 2025, pneumococcus accounted for 12% of bacterial strains isolated in the inpatient area. Notably, in the outpatient area, the identification results showed that 55% of pneumonia cases were caused by pneumococcus, reflecting the large disease burden caused by this agent in the community.

Young children are most vulnerable to pneumococcal infections because their immune systems are not yet fully developed. In addition, children are often in close contact in daycare and preschool environments; and are susceptible to respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV or adenovirus - factors that increase the risk of pneumococcal outbreaks.

Pneumococcus is transmitted through droplets when coughing, sneezing or through hand-nose-mouth contact. Notably, asymptomatic carriers can still be a source of infection for healthy children.

"Many completely healthy children can still become seriously ill and critical in just a few hours. Meanwhile, current antibiotics are no longer strong enough, because many strains of pneumococcus are resistant to drugs such as penicillin, macrolide, cephalosporin... Therefore, vaccination is a proactive and sustainable measure to protect children from pneumococcus. The earlier the vaccination, the higher the protection effect" - Dr. Nam emphasized.

In addition, in the past 2 weeks, the Pediatric Center, Bach Mai Hospital has received 20-30 children hospitalized due to influenza A every day. Most of the children were hospitalized due to complications such as pneumonia, otitis media, and convulsions due to high fever.

International experts and Vietnamese experts at the conference.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that as a special-class complete general hospital with many leading specialties, in addition to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment and patient service attitude, hospital staff are constantly learning and cooperating internationally to improve their professional knowledge.

The Pediatric Center has closely coordinated with experts and leading units of Bach Mai Hospital and applied advanced techniques to solve diseases and difficult pediatric internal medicine cases for children, improving the quality of medical examination and treatment.

The 11th Vietnam - US Pediatric Conference hopes to update and share with American colleagues the latest techniques on diagnostic and treatment measures for children in general and newborns in particular, in order to create conditions for pediatric doctors and nurses working in hospitals across the country to update knowledge, exchange information and share experiences in diagnosing, treating and caring for children.

Associate Professor Co said that currently, the Pediatric Center - Bach Mai Hospital is focusing on expansion, specialized training and comprehensive development, especially in the fields of emergency resuscitation, neonatology and cardiovascular intervention.

International experts spoke at the conference.

The close coordination between the Obstetrics and Pediatrics departments with specialized departments in the hospital is operating very effectively, bringing many successes in patient care and treatment. The Obstetrics - Pediatrics linkage model in general hospitals is being replicated nationwide.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/giao-mua-tre-mac-cum-phe-cau-gia-tang-nhieu-ca-bien-chung-viem-phoi-169251113191531777.htm