In Hanoi, malaria patients “imported” from Africa appeared

It is worth noting that for many years, Hanoi and the northern provinces of Vietnam have almost no malaria patients, so the timely detection, diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases returning from abroad in many health facilities at lower levels are still difficult and easily missed.

Patient Nguyen Dinh Th. (38 years old, born in Ha Tinh) returned home from Angola for a week. Before that, the patient worked and lived in Angola for 12 years. Five days before admission, the patient developed a high fever, chills, and a headache with fever. Fever is concentrated mainly in the afternoon, usually with 2 fevers a day, accompanied by painful urination, loose stools.

The patient went to a medical facility near his home but did not find the disease, so he went to Ha Tinh General Hospital in a serious condition, then was transferred to the Center for Tropical Diseases – Bach Mai Hospital.

After exploiting the epidemiological factors of the patient who had gone to Angola, combined with a blood test, the doctors discovered the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in the blood.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Duy Cuong – Director of Center for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital examines patients

The second patient is a 32-year-old woman, 6 months pregnant, from Hanoi, but Ms. H has been working in Angola for 8 years and had malaria in 2021, this time she just returned from Angola. 1 week.

3 days before entering the hospital, she had a high fever and shivering, mainly in the evening. After the fever, sweat a lot, with vomiting, nausea, and a lot of headache. She went to a private clinic, then was taken to the National Institute of Malaria-Parasitology-Entomology for testing and was diagnosed with malaria.

Due to her pregnancy and low platelet count, Ms. H was transferred to the Center for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital – where there are many specialists working together to monitor and treat the mother and her baby. pregnant woman.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Duy Cuong – Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital said: In recent years, malaria in Vietnam has been controlled quite successfully because we have a fever prevention program. Because malaria is effective in localities as well as having adequate anti-malarial drugs for treatment, malaria morbidity and mortality rates have decreased significantly, only in a few provinces in the Central Highlands and the South.

However, recently we have received many malaria patients from Africa, so it is called “imported” malaria. The reason is due to a lot of trade and travel. After a period of epidemic, the restoration of flight routes for Vietnamese people to work and work in Africa, especially Angola, has increased.

BS. Cuong recommends: People returning from malaria-endemic areas should be screened, epidemiologically investigated and tested immediately for malaria parasites in their blood and need to make a medical declaration to the authorities. function. When having symptoms of fever, it is necessary to seek medical attention immediately to avoid confusion and omission.

Both patients currently being treated at the Center developed a fever right after returning to Vietnam, but the local health department did not detect it, not paying attention to the epidemiological factor that was coming from Africa, so it was easy to miss. Due to the rampant atypical malaria symptoms, it is easy to confuse with other diseases such as flu, Covid-19, dengue fever, or urinary infection, etc.

In the past years, there have been many warnings about malaria cases returning from Africa, especially in the cases of workers and workers returning from Angola, they must pay attention to epidemiological factors and need to declare them. Get medical attention or get tested because malaria can become severe and life-threatening.

“We have seen many cases of malaria becoming malignant with persistent high fever symptoms, which can go into a coma after 3-5 days, which is life-threatening.

Accompanied by coma is multi-organ failure (liver, kidney, lung, ..) or anemia, convulsions, hypoglycemia. However, if treated promptly, with the right drugs and good drugs, the functions will gradually recover.

Currently available antimalarial drugs (Artesunate, Arterakin) are provided under the program by the Ministry of Health”, Assoc. Cuong emphasized.

N. Huyen