According to MSc.BS Le Hong Nga - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), when children return to school, crowded environments increase the risk of spreading some infectious diseases.
Seasonal flu and respiratory infections are diseases that parents need to pay attention to. In a crowded classroom environment with limited ventilation, these diseases can be easily spread, especially during the transitional season.
Tinnitus is also at risk of transmission when children are in direct or indirect contact with the patient's secretions, through hands, towels, toys or shared items.
In addition, dengue fever is not transmitted directly from children to children but is transmitted through mosquitoes. However, this is still a disease that needs to be watched out for in the rainy season, usually increasing from June to the end of the year.
Some diseases that have vaccines to prevent such as measles, whooping cough, chickenpox, mumps can still appear sporadically if children have not been fully vaccinated.
HCDC recommends that parents proactively monitor their children's health when returning to school, implement disease prevention measures and take children for full and timely vaccination.
According to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City Health sector, in week 35 (from August 24 to August 30), the dengue fever situation in the city was stable, while the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases tended to decrease compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks.
Specifically, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 1,256 dengue fever cases in week 35, an increase of 4.4% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks. From the beginning of the year to the end of week 35, the city recorded 29,601 cases.
Wards and communes with a high number of dengue fever cases per 100,000 people include Chanh Phu Hoa, Minh Thanh and An Nhon Tay.
For hand, foot and mouth disease, in week 35, the city recorded 843 cases, down 16.7% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks. The accumulated number of cases from the beginning of the year to the end of week 35 is 32,230 cases.
Localities with a high number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases per 100,000 people include Con Dao special zone, Binh Khanh ward and Hiep Phuoc commune.
The health sector recommends that people continue to proactively implement measures to prevent dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease, especially maintaining environmental hygiene, removing mosquito breeding grounds and cleaning hands, utensils, and toys to limit the risk of hand, foot, and mouth disease infection.
