VietNamNet Bridge – The mysterious disease that afflicted
hundreds of people in Quang Ngai Province seven months ago has returned, with
seven residents of the province’s Ba To District reported to be suffering from
the condition, a provincial health official announced.
The news has triggered concern
among health officials as the disease, which is similar to dermatitis on the
palms and soles of the feet, was believed to have been brought under control
last August.
Le Huy from the Quang Ngai health
department told Viet Nam News yesterday, March 5, that the latest patient was a
60-year-old woman from Ba Dien Commune – 50km southwest of Quang Ngai City.
She was sent to the district’s
General Hospital for a check-up after suffering breathing difficulties and
liver and kidney failure.
“The hospital’s doctors diagnosed
that she has the same problem as her fellow villagers last year,” Huy said.
Her daughter and grand-daughter
died from the same disease last year.
Under the existing treatment
methods issued by the Health Ministry, the patients have ointment applied to
their affected skin and take medicine to ease the pain.
A group of doctors from the
health department and the Ha Noi-based Dermatology and Venerology Hospital paid
a working visit to Ba To and Son Ha districts yesterday to collect samples of
the disease from patients for further analysis.
The ailment has affected a total
of 215 people so far, mainly in Ba Dien village. Twenty-three of them died.
Doctors and experts from the
Ministry of Health have been puzzled by the unidentified skin disease since the
first case came to light in Ba To District in 2011.
In a workshop last June, health
experts said most patients were diagnosed with breathing difficulties, traumas
to the liver and kidney and elevated liver enzymes, as well as suffering from
skin peeling off their feet and the palms of their hands.
Most patients of the ailment were
from mountainous Ba To, but neighbouring Son Ha district has also been hit by
the disease.
Source: VNS
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