Vietnam Faces Wider Rubella Spread

Health authorities of Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi have cautioned about wider spread of rubella, as the number of rubella patients has been rising in recent times, said deputy director of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases Nguyen Hong Ha. Up to 50-100 people went to the hospital for disease checking per day. Most of them were young people and women aged 20-35, Ha was cited by the state-run Vietnam News Agency as saying Mar 3. Nearly 1,000 people have got medical checks for rubella so far this year, three times higher than the same period last year. Of them, over 100 citizens were hospitalized, including 95 from Hanoi, Ha attributed, adding that 35 rubella patients were pregnant women. Normally, patients recovered after one week but the disease was dangerous for pregnant women, doctors noted. “If pregnant women caught rubella in the first three months of their pregnancy, about 35%-60% of the newborns will suffer from heart deformity, brain disease and mental retardation,” Head of the hospital's virus and parasitology ward Doctor Nguyen Tien Lam said. The rubella epidemic reached a high point last month, and may last until next month, he said, warning that high humidity in spring provided favorable conditions for the widespread virus. The hospital is drafting a document to guide disease treatment to be sent to health institutions nationwide so patients can get proper advice and treatment, Ha said. (Vietnam News Mar 3 p3)