Doctors at the Central Tropical Diseases Hospital answered that children with vomiting and abdominal pain should do a liver enzyme test to find mysterious hepatitis?
Before the mysterious hepatitis in children broke out in 20 countries/regions, parents in Vietnam couldn’t help but worry.
”Online doctor” calls on parents to test their children’s liver enzymes
In recent days, on social networks, there have been a number of articles advising parents that if a child suddenly vomits too much for unknown reasons, they need to take their child to a gastroenterologist and do a liver enzyme test to detect inflammation. Mysterious liver in children.
These articles have all attracted the attention of thousands of people. In addition to the agreeing comments, many parents think that this is unnecessary, even putting pressure on the health system as well as becoming a “delicious bait” for those pretending to be doctors. scholar for profit.
Sharing about this issue on VietNamnet, Dr. Nguyen Trung Trung – Deputy Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said that the health sector is always on alert because mysterious hepatitis can completely enter our country. at some point.
Vietnamese parents are worried about the strong outbreak of mysterious hepatitis in children
Liver enzyme test is a common biochemical test, and many medical facilities are capable of performing it. This is a measure to assess liver function damage, liver failure or not. Because liver dysfunction is an early manifestation of mysterious hepatitis. It is too late to get to the stage where the patient is jaundiced, has clear yellow eyes or is lethargic, or comatose.
However, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting … are common manifestations in young children and are caused by many causes. Therefore, not every child with these symptoms will be classified as suspected of having mysterious hepatitis, which needs a careful evaluation by a medical doctor. Doctor Level advises parents not to panic when children appear vomiting, diarrhea.
Also discussing this issue on Tuoi Tre Online, Assoc. Prof. Phung Nguyen The Nguyen – Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy said that now, in order to do tests to detect acute hepatitis, facilities must Having a Lab, doing PCR or diagnostic serology, equipped with modern machinery…, only a few large medical facilities can do this test.
“The liver enzyme test can only detect the damage and function of the liver, cannot identify the mysterious hepatitis. Parents should take care of the child as usual, if there are symptoms of fever, fatigue, jaundice … should take their children to reputable medical facilities for treatment. At the same time, parents should take their children to have full vaccinations such as hepatitis A, B… because these agents are also very dangerous.” , Assoc. Nguyen recommended.
And Dr. CKII Le Thanh Phuong – Head of Hepatology Unit, Hospital for Tropical Diseases also recommended that if a child has one of the following symptoms, they should take the child to the doctor: High fever, impaired consciousness; feeling unusually tired all the time; general feeling of not feeling well; loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting; dark yellow urine, gray, pale stools; yellowing of the eyes and skin, itchy skin; muscle and joint pain.
Ministry of Health recommends close monitoring of ‘mysterious’ acute hepatitis in children
Although Vietnam has not recorded any cases so far, on the afternoon of May 8, the Ministry of Health said that it had strengthened the direction, inspection and supervision, requesting the units to closely monitor, total situation, epidemiological analysis of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in the world;
Coordinate with localities to analyze suspected cases of acute hepatitis of unknown cause and immediately report unusual cases, at the same time assess risks and propose prevention measures in Vietnam.
Previously, the Department of Preventive Medicine, the Ministry of Health had sent a document to the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology; Pasteur Institute Nha Trang; Pasteur Institute Ho Chi Minh City; Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on strengthening surveillance of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children.
The above units are also required to strengthen the direction, inspection and supervision, to support localities and units to implement surveillance, prevention and testing of hepatitis virus, with a focus on vaccination activities. hepatitis B vaccine for infants, children under one year of age and high-risk subjects, ensuring safety and reaching the coverage rate according to the planned targets.
Nurses vaccinate children in Indonesia. Source: independent.co.uk
The Department of Preventive Medicine said that according to updated information from the World Health Organization, this disease occurs in children from 1 month old to 16 years old, most children recover completely, but there are some cases. In severe cases, nearly 10% of cases require a liver transplant. The cases identified as acute hepatitis mentioned above presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and markedly elevated liver enzymes.
The majority of reported cases were without fever and undetected infection with common viruses that cause acute viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses). The World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control say the exact cause of hepatitis in these children is unknown and investigations are ongoing. However, cases have occurred in areas where the adenovirus is high.
At the National Children’s Hospital, some cases of liver damage have been recorded, but they are in the group related to children with Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C syndrome) after being infected with Covid-19, not yet recorded cases. case of isolated liver injury or adenovirus-associated liver injury.
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