Patient H.T. K. T (11 years old, residing in Phu Thanh ward, Ho Chi Minh City) was brought to the hospital in a state of severe abdominal pain accompanied by continuous vomiting. According to Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thao (the baby's mother), before being admitted to the hospital, the child went to school normally, but after eating, abdominal pain appeared, then vomited many times. Worryingly, the child also vomited blood-like red discharge, so the family immediately took him to the hospital that night.
After nearly 10 days of treatment at the Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC), the baby's health condition has clearly improved, fever has subsided, eating is better and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the next few days if his health is stable. According to the family's sharing, the cause may be related to prolonged hot weather causing effects. Ms. Nguyen Thi Trinh (An Giang) said that her child was hospitalized due to severe abdominal pain, while having a background disease of cirrhosis due to autoimmune hepatitis. Initially diagnosed with sore throat, but after a few days of recurrence pain, the baby was transferred to another hospital and diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis accompanied by intestinal inflammation.
According to the family, hot weather makes babies easily tired, have a fever and eat poorly, making the disease worse.
BS.CKII Le Minh Lan Phuong - Head of the Outpatient Department, Children's Hospital 1 - said that the number of pediatric patients coming for examination recently increased by about 15-20% compared to the same period last year. In hot weather conditions like today, children are prone to infectious diseases and digestive diseases. Common hospitalizations include digestive infections, hand, foot and mouth disease and measles. The clinic also recorded a high increase in the number of cases of diseases such as viral infections and flu compared to normal.
Recently, hand, foot and mouth disease has tended to increase, some severe cases require hospitalization for monitoring. In addition, we also recorded many cases of food poisoning occurring in schools, causing digestive infections in children" - BS.CKII Le Minh Lan Phuong said.
According to doctors, prolonged hot weather and erratic weather make children easily tired, dehydrated, immunocompromised, and increase the risk of disease. If not treated promptly, hand, foot, and mouth disease or digestive infections can cause serious complications, affecting the nervous system.
Recorded at Children's Hospital 2, specialist doctor 1 Tran Nguyen Khoi - Deputy Head of the Outpatient Department, Children's Hospital 2 - said that the department receives an average of 3,000-4,000 visits per day, of which the majority are children under 5 years old. Acute respiratory infections account for more than 50% of the total number of cases. The remaining diseases are mainly digestive, dermatological and infectious diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease, dengue fever, chickenpox, which are showing signs of slight increase.
To prevent diseases for children, Dr. Khoi recommends that parents should proactively get fully vaccinated against recommended vaccines such as chickenpox, meningitis, mumps, rubella... At the same time, maintain a cool living environment, avoid letting children go out at sunny times, wear cool clothes, shield well when going out in the sun and limit sudden temperature changes.
