Hanoi - Vietnamese health officials are monitoring an outbreak of cholera in northern provinces that has seen more than 100 people hospitalized, officials said Tuesday. An epidemic of acute diarrhoea has expanded to at least 11 provinces and there are about 80 more people getting infected every day, they said.
Of the 900 people infected in the past week, dozens have tested positive for cholera, according to Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Health Department under the Ministry of Health.
"Up to 15 per cent of the people having acute diarrhoea are positive for cholera," Nga said. "The others are infected with other bacteria and have lighter symptoms."
No one has died from the cholera outbreak although Nga said dehydration could kill some patients if not treated immediately.
Vietnam is monitoring the outbreak but has not launched a nationwide vaccination against cholera, Nga said.
Instead, the Health Ministry has recommended eating well-cooked food, drinking boiled water and washing hands with soap to prevent the outbreak from spreading.
"Vaccinating is the secondary measure when the outbreak has already happened," said Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. "The vaccine will not have any effect until three weeks after injection."
Officials were also monitoring the central provinces, where floods have made freshwater scarce, for any early signs of diseases like cholera.
"The risk that the outbreak will further spread is very high, and we are planning to vaccinate people in the flooded provinces in the central region," Hien said.
Cholera chiefly spreads through drinking water or eating food contaminated with cholera bacteria.
Vietnam announced a acute diarrhoea epidemic last week and put a ban on a popular fermented shrimp paste, which has been blamed for up to half the cases.
