These days, the ceramic tiles in the 3rd floor apartment in Ky Lua ward, Lang Son province are always covered with a thin layer of water. Ms. Hoang Thi Mai (32 years old) stepped onto the floor and had to wear plastic sandals, while the corner of the bedroom wall was stained with black mold.
For the past three days, I have washed two batches of clothes, but none of them are completely dry. The whole house always smells wet. My young child coughs all the time, I'm just afraid of pneumonia," Ms. Mai sighed.
Humidity, a phenomenon that often appears when cold air weakens and humidity increases, is familiar to people in the North.
However, prolonged humidity waves for many days have caused many families to fall into misery, houses are wet, electronics are easily damaged, food spoils quickly, and young children get sick.
In Tam Thanh ward, the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (35 years old) said that he and his wife had just gone through an argument just because of a dehumidifier.
My wife wanted to buy a dehumidifier for more than 4 million VND, but I thought it would only last for a few weeks and then run out, spending that amount of money is a bit wasteful. So the two of us argued back and forth," Mr. Hung recounted.
From another perspective, taking care of young children in the humid season also easily creates pressure. Grandparents are used to opening the door "to keep it airy", while young parents close it tightly and turn on the dry mode of the air conditioner.
The differences in living habits seem small but can touch the deepest worry about children's health.
Ms. Mai shared: "My mother-in-law said that in the past, raising children did not have a dehumidifier, but they still grew up. But now the weather is erratic, I am very worried. As soon as the child sobs, the whole family is tense like a guitar string.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Vu Huy - Senior Lecturer of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Hanoi Medical University, humidity is an important factor in microclimate conditions.
When the percentage of water vapor in the air increases, it affects the respiratory system, changing the regulation and reflexes of the airways. This condition also affects the cardiovascular and immune systems, making the body more susceptible to disease.
High-risk groups include the elderly due to weakened immune systems, young children, pregnant women, people with underlying diseases such as bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or allergic constitution.
Regarding the appropriate humidity threshold in the house, doctors recommend maintaining it in the range of 40 - 60%, ideally about 50%. When the outdoor humidity increases to 70 - 80% or higher, especially on humid days, people should limit going out if not necessary.
Indoors, people should close some doors to reduce the influx of humid air, and at the same time ensure ventilation with fans or air circulation equipment.
Favorable families should use air conditioning in dehumidifier or dehumidifier mode, prioritizing rooms for young children and people with chronic respiratory diseases.
In addition to controlling humidity, Dr. Huy recommends that people proactively prevent diseases in the community, especially after Tet and the festival season when crowded contact increases.
In winter-spring, people need to regularly update information from the health sector and clean their homes, wear masks when going out to protect themselves and avoid spreading diseases to the environment" - the doctor emphasized.
Not every family is qualified to install a dehumidifier or two-way air conditioner.
Many people choose more economical solutions such as mopping the floor with dry towels, limiting opening doors when humidity is high, turning on ventilation fans, using activated carbon and raw lime to draw moisture.
More importantly, according to experts, is to keep calm. Humidity is just a seasonal weather phenomenon, not lasting forever. Being too worried can make the family atmosphere even heavier.
I realize that instead of being irritable because clothes don't dry forever, I can proactively wash less and dry them more spacingly. The important thing is that the whole family sympathizes with each other," Ms. Mai said.
The humid season can wet the floor, mold the walls, but if each member knows how to be considerate and share, then those humid spells will not be enough to "moist" family affection.
