[Vnbiz] Vietnam to vaccinate 400, 000 children against cholera: reports

[Tai Phan]

Vietnam to vaccinate 400,000 children against cholera: reports

Wed Jan 16, 12:42 PM ET

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam plans to vaccinate 400,000 children in the capital
against cholera, and officials warned Wednesday that cases of acute
diarrhoea could flare up again after an outbreak sickened thousands last
year.
  ADVERTISEMENT

Nearly 2,000 acute diarrhoea cases were reported in Hanoi and 12 other
provinces and cities in October and November, of which 295 cases tested
positive for cholera, the state-controlled Vietnam News daily said.

The health ministry, which declared the epidemic under control in December,
has approved funding to vaccinate 400,000 children aged over 10 in areas of
Hanoi where the outbreaks struck hardest last year, state media reported.

No deaths were reported from the outbreak of cholera, an intestinal
infection spread by bacteria in drinking water or food that causes watery
diarrhoea and can be deadly in severe cases of dehydration and kidney
failure.

Dozens more cases of severe acute diarrhoea have been reported in Hanoi this
month, but none have tested positive for cholera, health officials said.

The health ministry warned that good personal and food hygiene are essential
to containing the diseases ahead of the Tet lunar New Year in February.

"There is a high risk of a new outbreak of acute diarrhoea during Tet as
food consumption will go up rapidly," Nguyen Van Binh, deputy director of
the Preventive Medical Department of the Ministry of Health, told AFP.

The World Health Organisation reported two human deaths in
neighbouring Laosin early January after a cholera outbreak sickened
about 180 people in the
country.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://<_sre.SRE_Match object at 0x98dbd20>/pipermail/vnbiz/attachments/20080117/8b37a8c3/attachment-0001.html