Whitmore Virus Kills 11 People in Vietnam Central Province

A general hospital in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh has admitted 31 infection cases including 11 died of the virus because of sepsis, a severe blood infection that can lead to organ failure and death, state media reported. Whitmore virus is not a new virus and it has caused scattered cases nationwide. Worse, the virus can cause quick deaths within 48 hours after hospitalization with the mortality rate from 40% to 50%. Whitmore virus kills people quickly, said Dr. Nguyen Trung Cap, Deputy Head of the Intensive Treatment Department of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital in Hanoi, adding that many cases caused by Whitmore virus found in some localities. Dr. Cap said his hospital receives an average of 30 people infected with the virus every year. The infection cases tend to increase in rainy season and these people usually touch mud will have the virus. Worse, many people have little knowledge of the virus; accordingly they are neglected the disease and its symptoms. Even medical workers mistakenly diagnosed the disease with other diseases such as pneumonia, lung tuberculosis, or blood infection while most of Whitmore virus patients have symptoms of blood infection and pneumonia; half of them have complication of infection shock and later they died. (dantri.com.vn Oct 13)