Health staff get MERS training

DA NANG (VNS) — The Ministry of Health has organised a two-day training programme for health staff in the central region as part of preventive measures against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV).

At the training, which starts today in Da Nang City, some 200 key staff from the departments of health in central cities and provinces and the ministry’s hospitals will receive guidance on comprehensive preventive measures, as well as how to detect, isolate, and give treatment to infected or suspected cases.

Top-ranking experts from Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital, and Hue General Hospital illustrated how to collect, store, and transport the blood samples of infected/suspected cases, as well as supervise and manage a hotbed to curb the spread of the disease.

They also explained how to prevent the complications that usually follow the disease, such as pneumonia, blood bacterial contamination, and other kinds of infections in patients.

Da Nang City’s Department of Health said the number of foreign tourists arriving in the city might be high as the tourism season is ongoing.

Hence, the department has tightened the medical screening of passengers to check their body temperature, especially of those coming from high-risk countries such as the Middle East, South Korea, and China.

In Thua Thien Hue Province, as many as 120 tourism enterprises have joined the training programme on MERS-CoV prevention and detection.

Apart from urging them to suspend all tours to MERS CoV-infected countries, tourism enterprises will be encouraged to pay attention to the health conditions of tourists and promptly inform their respective provincial health sector via hotlines if any tourist shows any sign of infection.

Le Huu Minh, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the department will continue to update the provincial Health Preventive Department on information about tourists coming from infected countries.

Figures from the World Health Organisation show that as of June 30, a total of 1,357 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infections have been recorded worldwide and 485 people have died.

Viet Nam has not reported any infected case so far. No vaccine is available for this disease.

Middle East respiratory syndrome is caused by corona virus, which originated in Saudi Arabia. It can spread from people to people and has symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia, and kidney failure. — VNS

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