Many children come to the hospital for examination and inpatient treatment due to dengue fever
Ms. Le Thi Lien (37 years old, Ho Chi Minh City) said that her child initially had a fever, was lethargic, tired, refused to eat and was diagnosed with dengue fever. In the early days, his platelets did not decrease, so he did not have to be hospitalized.
By the fourth and fifth days, the baby had a prolonged high fever, was exhausted, lethargic, and did not eat or drink. The family immediately took the baby to Children's Hospital 2 for monitoring and treatment.
According to Ms. Lien, after one day of hospitalization, the baby gradually woke up and started eating and drinking again. Previously, during the high fever, the baby almost did not eat or drink.
Children's Hospital 2 recorded an increase of about 50% in the number of outpatients and inpatients treated for dengue fever compared to two weeks ago.
In June, the number of cases doubled compared to May. In just over 10 days of July, the number of cases exceeded half of the total number of cases in June. If this trend continues, the number of cases in July may double compared to the previous month.
BS.CKII Nguyen Dinh Qui - Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital 2 - said that the dengue fever situation in Ho Chi Minh City is tending to increase rapidly as the city enters the peak rainy season.
Regarding the causative agent, Dr. Qui said that to date, DEN-2 virus is still the dominant circulating strain. This is a type of virus that is often associated with a higher risk of severe progression than DEN-1. However, the health sector has not recorded abnormal changes in the virus strain compared to previous years.
According to Dr. Qui, although many parents are now aware of monitoring their children when they have dengue fever, there are still many cases of bringing children to the hospital late. Through actual treatment, the hospital still records many children with continuous fever for 3-4 days at home, only when warning signs appear such as vomiting a lot, fatigue, cold hands and feet or progressing to a severe stage are taken to medical facilities.
Current studies show that vaccines can help prevent over 80% of the risk of dengue fever. In case of still contracting the disease after vaccination, the risk of severe progression requiring hospitalization is reduced by about 90%.
According to Dr. Quy, cases of vaccination when infected mainly only stop at the level of warning signs, progress is milder and almost no cases of severe progression have been recorded.
Doctors note the warning signs of dengue fever that should not be ignored
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), in week 27, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 739 cases of dengue fever, an increase of 44.6% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks. The total number of dengue fever cases accumulated from the beginning of 2026 to week 27 is 20,514 cases. Wards and communes with high dengue fever cases include An Nhon Tay, Tay Nam and Ngai Giao.
Dr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Head of Dengue Fever - Hematology Department, Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC), said that dengue fever can progress very quickly in the dangerous days of the disease. Patients need to go to a medical facility immediately if symptoms such as vomiting a lot, abdominal pain, lethargy, cold hands and feet, bleeding or shortness of breath appear to be monitored and treated promptly.
Dr. Tuan noted that young children, overweight children, obese children, or those with underlying diseases such as heart, lung, and kidney disease are groups that need to be closely monitored because the risk of severe progression is higher.
