Seeing her child with a sore throat, nasal congestion and a mild fever, Ms. Cam Tu (Can Tho City) thought her child had respiratory infection, so she took him to the clinic. Unexpectedly, after 2 days, the condition did not subside but became more severe, leading to symptoms of lethargy and difficulty sleeping. On the third day, she took the child to Can Tho Children's Hospital for examination, and the test results showed that the child had dengue fever and had to be hospitalized.
Seeing her child struggling to sleep, Ms. Tu sadly said: "I also clean the environment and the house is clean, update information regularly, but I didn't think the child would be sick. Now I just try to follow the doctor's instructions, especially giving my child a lot of water to quickly overcome the dangerous stage".
Ms. Tu's case is no exception because currently, many parents confuse dengue fever with common fever. That is also one of the reasons why when parents take their children to a medical facility for examination, the children are in the stage of serious illness.
In general, the number of dengue fever cases in children in the Mekong Delta is increasing rapidly, many children are hospitalized in shock.
At Can Tho Children's Hospital - the end-of-the-line health unit - in the past two months, the Emergency Department has received and treated more than 15 cases of dengue shock syndrome.
Notably, an 11-year-old child was hospitalized with a high fever for 3 days, accompanied by poor appetite, abdominal pain, little vomiting, cold hands and feet, blood pressure, and diarrhea. Realizing that this was a shock condition, a severe form of dengue fever, the emergency team quickly treated the baby with active shock anti-shock according to the treatment regimen for the baby. After that, his condition gradually improved and he was discharged from the hospital.
According to statistics in the first 7 months of this year at Can Tho Children's Hospital, the total number of dengue fever cases treated as inpatients inside and outside the city was 554, an increase of 51%; severe cases were 59, an increase of 34% over the same period last year. Doctors recommended that
The dengue fever situation this year will be more complicated than previous years, especially in children. However, many parents still think that the fever is cured, so they are subjective and do not re-examine. However, dengue fever often starts suddenly and progresses through 3 stages: fever stage, dangerous stage and recovery stage. Therefore, a drop in body temperature does not mean that the patient is recovering.
"It is worth mentioning that in the early stages, many people still confused between dengue fever and viral fever. Therefore, it is best for parents to take their children to the nearest medical facility for timely testing and treatment, recommended Dr. Nguyen Huynh Nhat Truong - Head of the Dengue Fever Department, Can Tho Children's Hospital.
According to the report of the Center for Disease Control of Can Tho City (CDC Can Tho), as of the end of July 2025, Can Tho City (old) recorded more than 560 cases of dengue fever, an increase of more than 225 cases compared to the same period last year, no deaths were recorded.
