Nine infants die from suspected enterovirus in southern Vietnam
HANOI - Nine infants have died in southern Vietnam since early
February from suspected enterovirus infection which killed 78 children in
Taiwan in 1998, health officials said.
The children, all under two years of age, died
within 48 hours of being hospitalised at
Paediatric Hospital One in Ho Chi Minh City
which received all the cases from other
hospitals in southern Vietnam, a local health
official said.
"The nine had the same symptoms of fever,
vomiting, diarrhoea then convulsions and acute
respiratory problems before going into a coma,"
he said. "That makes us think about
enteroviruses, which cause extreme
neurological complications such as viral
meningitis and encephalitis.
"However, it is just a theory. We have to carry out some tests. The samples
of the disease have been sent to the Pasteur Institute to identify," he said.
Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, head of the Pasteur Institute, said initial results will be
available within three weeks.
"Even if we find out a connection with enteroviruses, we will have to send the
samples for further tests in Taiwan or Japan before making the final
conclusion," she said.
"It is too early to say that there is an outbreak of the disease. The first nine
victims did not come from the same place, but from different provinces in the
south," Tien added.
Agence France Presse - April 8, 2003.
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