A baby born with suspected microcephaly has been reported in Krong Buk district in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, according to the Health Ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine. After hearing the news, the Health Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) oÂn October 17 organised a meeting with the participation of relevant international units and organisations.
The blood sample of the four-month-old baby has been sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) which will coordinate with Japan's Nagasaki University to conduct Zika virus testing. A delegation from the Ministry of Health has arrived in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to inspect the suspected Zika-linked microcephaly case reported earlier in the locality, an official said oÂn October 20.
Director of the ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine Tran Dac Phu said the baby was born with smaller-than-normal head. However, there can be a number of causes, including the infection of rubella, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, intoxication, malnutrition, and genetic factors.
Before Zika-linked diseases occurred, there were cases of children born with abnormally small heads, he added. Therefore, the study and analysis of health and disease conditions is important to define the cause of the microcephaly, he said, adding that health workers took blood and urine samples of the patient and other family members for further examination. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is testing the samples.
Regarding the two additional microcephaly cases reported in Dak Lak, Phu said the health ministry has entrusted the Central Highland Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology to make investigation. He noted that the two children were born with small heads long time ago and they are getting old, so it is unlikely to link the cases with the Zika virus.
According to Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, the ministry raised the warning level for the Zika virus as many cases have been reported, with five in October alone.The health ministry's supervision system also discovered a four-month-old baby in Krong Buk district, Dak Lak, born malformed with an unusually small head, and suspected to be caused by Zika.
Diseases linked to Zika virus have circulated in Vietnam, especially in areas where mosquitoes spreading dengue and Zika have been found, heard the meeting.
Cases of baby born with Zika-related microcephaly may be found in Vietnam as risk of microcephaly is about 1-10 percent of infants born to mothers who become infected with the virus during their first trimester of pregnancy, the participants said.
The Health Ministry has instructed the Department of Preventive Medicine to team up with the Maternal and Child Health Department, the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Hospital of Paediatrics, the NIHE and the NIHE's office in the Central Highlands to establish a working group to study the case.
The October 17 meeting (Source: VNA)
As of October 17, seven cases of Zika infection were confirmed in the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen, Binh Duong province and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Research showed that risk of microcephaly is about 1-10 percent of infants born to mothers who become infected with the virus during their first trimester of pregnancy. To prevent the spread of Zika virus, especially among pregnant women and infants, the Health Ministry advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with oÂngoing Zika outbreaks.
The pregnant women, particularly in their first trimester of pregnancy, who have travelled to or are living in Zika-hit areas, and are now experiencing fever or rash, and oÂne of the symptoms of muscle pain and conjunctivitis should go to health centres to get medical advice and check-ups, it said.
The virus has been circulated in seven out of ten Southeast Asian nations. As of October 17, seven cases of Zika infection were confirmed in the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen, Binh Duong province and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus causes oÂnly mild symptoms in most, including fever, sore eyes and a rash. But pregnant women infected with the virus risk giving birth to babies with microcephaly -- a deformation that leads to abnormally small brains and heads.
Currently there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat the disease.
Brazil is worst affected by Zika virus with about 1.5 million patients.