VietNamNet Bridge - People in the area of the strange skin
disease are anxious with their fate while the Ministry of Health is struggling
to "decode" the disease. The disease that has killed 23 people in
Quang Ngai is raging violently.
The "strange" disease,
which is called by the Ministry of Health as dermatitis syndrome on hands and
feet, in the central province of Quang Ngai has recently returned with new
cases, while the specific cause of the disease is still vague.
Since late February 2013, the
bizarre skin disease has come back in the mountainous districts of Quang Ngai.
On March 6, the total number of
patients was 12. Of the 12 patients, there are 2 cases of recurrence.
The latest case is Mrs. Pham Thi
Soi, 60 years old, in Reu village, Ba Dien commune. This is also a case of
recurrence.
Last year, Soi had the disease
and was well again after treatment. Two members of her family were dead by this
disease, including her daughter, Pham Thi An, 26, who died in July 2012 and
An’s son Pham Van Sam, 4.
The 2nd case of recurrence is
Mrs. Pham Thi Ngap, 75, also a resident of Ba Dien commune.
Notably, the "strange"
disease not only broke out in Ba To district, but also appears in the
mountainous district of Son Ha.
The two patients here are Mr.
Dinh Van Hoan, 63 years old and his wife Dinh Thi Lo, 57, in Ka Park Village,
Son Ba commune.
The two patients were treated at
the Dermatology Ward of the Quang Ngai Province Hospital on February 19. The
couple has escaped the hospital to go home.
Mr. Le Han Phong, Chairman of Ba
To district, says that the "strange" disease is developing
complicatedly. He wishes health experts will soon clarify the cause to
definitively treat people.
Vague reasons
While the Ministry of Health
announced to "find the causes and successfully control the bizarre skin
disease which appeared in Vietnam for the first time in Ba To district, Quang
Ngai” and called this as one of the 10 achievements of the health sector in
2012, the disease has flared up again.
Chief of the Department of
Preventive Medicine--Nguyen Van Binh says: "The test of rice used by
farmers in the area of the strange disease (Ba Dien Commune, Ba To district) in
a Hong Kong laboratory finds out some kind of poisonous fungus but it does not
indicate the exact type of fungus which is the specific agent of the
disease."
Many experts have come to survey
and collect samples for testing but in the last two years they have yet to
determine the cause.
The health sector has made a lot
of speculation about the cause, such as dermatitis caused by infection, fever
caused by Rickettsia, hepatitis E, malnutrition...
2012 was the peak of the
"strange" disease. The Minister of Health--Nguyen Thi Kim Tien
visited Quang Ngai to inspect the disease. After that health experts said that
"eating moldy rice is one of the suspicious factors." However, the
Ministry of Health has not confirmed that eating moldy rice as the cause of the
disease.
Mr. Pham Van But, Chairman of Ba
Dien Commune, says that he and the local people are very worried of this
disease. He adds that the district authorities firstly provided the local
people 15 kg of rice per person per month. In August 2012, it reduced to 4 kg
and nothing. Since then the local people have eaten moldy rice again.
Le Ha
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