Seasonal flu attacks children and the elderly
In the past month, in Hanoi and the northern provinces, cold weather and severe air pollution have severely affected health. At some hospitals in Hanoi, reporters recorded an increase in the number of cases of influenza A and influenza B requiring hospitalization. Notably, there have been many cases of severe respiratory complications, pneumonia, bronchitis, and infectious fever.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huyen (Phu Tho) took her 5-year-old child to the National Children's Hospital because of influenza A. Seeing that her child had a fever, cough, and runny nose for 3 days without improvement, on the 4th day her child showed signs of difficulty breathing and a higher fever, the family rushed her to the National Children's Hospital for emergency care. After examination and testing, the doctor concluded that her child had influenza A with lung complications; after 5 days of intensive treatment, she recovered and was discharged from the hospital. At the National Children's Hospital, all children who came for examination and were hospitalized had influenza and had to be intensively treated.
Mr. Bui Cong (Thanh Tri, Hanoi) was very worried when his 1-year-old son was hospitalized at the Department of Pediatrics - Xanh Pon Hospital for 1 week without any improvement with symptoms such as fever, cough, bronchitis. At first, Mr. Cong bought antibiotics for his son to take, but when he saw his son wheezing and vomiting continuously, he took his son to the hospital and found out that his son had complications from seasonal flu.
Not only children, the elderly, people with underlying diseases have come to the Geriatric Hospital for examination and treatment for the flu quite a lot these days. Many elderly people have had serious complications in the bronchi and lungs. According to doctors, treating the elderly must be careful because they have underlying diseases, so the hospital stay is often longer, using more drugs...
Many dangerous complications due to seasonal flu
According to health experts, the changing weather at the end of the year creates major changes in the environment, temperature, humidity... along with poor air quality and frequent pollution, which are conditions for bacteria and viruses to develop and spread, including seasonal flu.
Common types of flu during Tet 2025 include seasonal flu caused by influenza viruses type A and B. Seasonal flu usually appears in winter and spring with symptoms such as high fever, headache, sore throat and fatigue. Influenza B is usually milder than influenza A but still needs careful monitoring. Influenza B virus is less mutated, but still has the potential to cause small-scale epidemics.
Although no longer a pandemic, COVID-19 continues to appear with new variants. Experts predict that a new variant may appear during Tet 2025, requiring people to remain vigilant.
What doctors are concerned about is that serious complications from this year's seasonal flu can occur in anyone. These complications make the condition more serious in infants and children under 2 years old, and the elderly over 65 years old.
Accordingly, common complications of seasonal flu are sinus and ear infections, bronchitis, etc. However, the flu virus can also cause secondary infections such as pneumonia. Pneumonia occurs when the body's immune system is weakened, causing the flu virus to quickly spread deeper into the patient's airways, causing lung infections...
Signs to identify flu types with seasonal flu: Fever from 38-39°C, sore throat, fatigue. Incubation period from 1-4 days. Flu A/H1N1: High fever above 39°C, dry cough, difficulty breathing, possibly accompanied by diarrhea. Incubation period from 3-7 days. Flu A/H5N1: Very high fever, severe difficulty breathing, chest pain. Incubation period from 2-5 days. COVID-19: Fever, dry cough, loss of smell, taste. Incubation period from 2-14 days.
