At noon on June 20, news from Can Tho City General Hospital, the Department of Intensive Care - Poison Control (HSTC-CD) has just successfully treated a case of chickenpox with many complications such as severe pneumonia, hepatitis, and blood clotting disorders.
This is a male patient (32 years old, residing in Vinh Long province) who has not been vaccinated against chickenpox and contracted the disease 1 week after his wife and children contracted chickenpox.
In the first three days, the patient developed many blisters all over his body, did not have a fever but was sluggish. The patient went for external treatment and the condition did not improve.
The male patient was brought to Can Tho City General Hospital on the 4th day in a state of blisters all over the body in different stages. Among them, many nodules had cloudy pus (typical of the whole-blown stage of chickenpox) accompanied by mouth ulcers, poor appetite, and diarrhea.
After being admitted to the hospital for about 10 hours in the Department of Infectious Diseases, the patient developed rapidly, with acute respiratory failure that did not respond to oxygen therapy, so he was transferred to the Department of HSTC-CD.
The HSTC-CD department received the patient in a state of severe respiratory failure, blood concentration, rapid heartbeat, and low blood pressure.
The patient was intubated and ventilated with invasive ventilation with high PEEP and FiO2 parameters; at the same time, switched to using intravenous Acyclovir and other supportive treatments, such as: continuous blood filtration, pulmonary aspiration using CPAP 40/40 method, blood transfusions to regulate blood clotting disorders.
During the care process, nurses encountered many difficulties, because patients had ulcers in the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, ears... Changing positions is also performed regularly to prevent ulcers and avoid worsening skin damage.
After nearly 1 month of care and active treatment, the patient's respiratory condition improved. By the 25th day, the patient was successfully intubated. On the 27th day of treatment, the patient was transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit.
According to the Ministry of Health, chickenpox is an acute infectious disease caused by the Varicella zoster virus (VZV) of the Herpesviridae family. The disease has the potential to cause epidemics, mainly transmitted through droplets from the respiratory tract or direct contact with water bubbles.
Chickenpox is a contagious disease; the infection rate is up to 90% in people without immunity. The disease often appears as an epidemic in school-age children, manifested by fever and blister-like rash, usually benign, sometimes fatal due to its serious complications.
Recently, the number of cases of chickenpox in adults with severe progression has tended to increase. The disease mainly occurs in people with impaired immunity, pregnant women and infants, and even in healthy adults.
Chickenpox can progress severely leading to internal organ complications such as pneumonia, myocarditis, meningitis, transverse myelitis..., which can lead to death.
Chickenpox can be prevented by vaccination. This is a reducing-toxin live vaccine, indicated for all children over 1 year old.
