These are suspected cases, close contacts of patients who were previously isolated and monitored. Accordingly, a 10-year-old child and a 74-year-old woman, relatives of a pregnant woman who previously had diphtheria, tested positive after 3 days of isolation and monitoring.

Vaccination is an important measure to prevent diphtheria. Photo: Chi Cuong

Faced with the risk of an epidemic, the leaders of the Thanh Hoa Department of Health requested that Muong Lat district continue to coordinate with the Center for Disease Control to screen suspected cases, promptly isolate, collect samples, and test according to regulations.

The leaders of Thanh Hoa Department of Health directed specialized departments to prepare preventive treatment drugs according to regulations for all at-risk subjects in the patient's family and surrounding households, those in close contact with the patient or those at risk of contracting the disease.

Continue to spray Cloramin B chemicals in the patient's house and surrounding households. Muong Lat District People's Committee proactively allocates funds to respond to emergency situations of epidemic prevention.

Previously, on August 5, Ms. PLM (born in 2007, residing in Doan Ket quarter, Muong Lat town, Muong Lat district) was diagnosed with diphtheria.

According to the results of the epidemiological investigation, on August 1, the patient had symptoms of sore throat, and taking medicine at home did not help. On August 4, the patient went to a private clinic and was advised to go to Muong Lat District General Hospital on the same day with symptoms of mild fever, sore throat, difficulty swallowing, and red and congested throat mucosa. Both tonsils were red and swollen, with many white pseudomembranes attached to the surface of the tonsils.

The patient was diagnosed with suspected diphtheria and transferred to the Department of Tropical Diseases, Thanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital on the same day.

Through screening and screening, 12 throat swab samples were taken, of which 5 samples had symptoms of tonsillitis and sore throat, and 7 samples were F1 cases who had direct and frequent contact, were relatives of the patient, and lived near the patient's residence.

Previously, regarding the diphtheria epidemic, according to information from the infectious disease surveillance system, Nghe An province recorded a case of a patient dying from diphtheria and a case of the disease in Bac Giang province that had close contact with the death case in Nghe An.

It is known that in recent years, in the Central Highlands, some northern mountainous provinces have had cases of the disease returning. Most of these localities are in remote areas, where vaccination rates have decreased or been interrupted, leading to an increase in the number of cases.

Recently, after nearly 20 years without a case, Ha Giang province recorded more than 30 cases of diphtheria, including one death. In addition, Thai Nguyen also recorded 2 cases of diphtheria. Previously, Dien Bien province recently recorded 3 cases of diphtheria, including 1 death.

In the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, diphtheria is classified as a group B infectious disease, which is a dangerous infectious disease that can spread rapidly and can cause death. In fact, even when treated, the mortality rate of the disease is up to 5-10%.

Diphtheria is an acute bacterial infection with pseudomembranous lesions in the tonsils, pharynx, larynx, and nose caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It was one of the leading causes of death in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The disease has an incubation period of about 2-5 days. During this time, the patient has no symptoms. The disease is easily transmitted directly from the patient to the healthy person through the respiratory tract or indirectly through contact with toys or objects contaminated with the patient's secretions.

With initial symptoms such as laryngitis, swollen lymph nodes under the jaw, sore throat..., the disease can progress to pneumonia, neuritis, heart failure, conjunctivitis... causing death after 6-10 days. The mortality rate can be up to about 5-10% and up to 20% in children under 5 years old, adults over 40 years old when infected.

In Vietnam, before vaccination, diphtheria often occurred and caused epidemics in most localities, especially in areas with high population density. The disease appeared frequently in August, September, and October. After the vaccine was available, the incidence rate dropped to less than 0.01/100,000 people.

According to experts, the heart is the organ most susceptible to serious complications. About 30% of patients with severe diphtheria have complications such as myocarditis, arrhythmia, heart failure and death.

Next, diphtheria can cause neurological complications, which account for about 5% of all severe cases. The disease can damage both the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system.

People at high risk of death are often under 15 years old, over 40 years old, people with kidney and cardiovascular complications, people with poor health, immunodeficiency or patients with support devices in the body, for example, artificial heart valve replacement or ventricular shunt placement, intravenous catheter placement.

Currently, vaccines are a quick, economical and safe measure to prevent diphtheria. Mr. Tran Dac Phu, former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, said that since the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine was introduced into the Expanded Immunization Program in 1981, the number of diphtheria cases in our country has decreased sharply.

In recent years, the disease has returned with sporadic cases in the central provinces such as Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, the Central Highlands provinces, and recently the northern mountainous provinces. Through epidemiological investigations, these are all areas with low vaccination rates.

Doctor Bui Thi Viet Hoa, Safpo/Potec vaccination system, said that diphtheria vaccine is included in all combination vaccines 2 in 1; 3 in 1; 4 in 1; 5 in 1; 6 in 1. 6 in 1 and 5 in 1 vaccines can be injected into children from 6 weeks old to 2 years old. 4 in 1 vaccine can be injected into children from 2 months old to under 7 years old.

The 3-in-1 vaccine can be given to children from 4 years of age and adults. In addition, the 2-in-1 vaccine against diphtheria and tetanus can be given to children from 7 years of age and adults.

According to Dr. Viet Hoa, parents need to take their children to get vaccinated on schedule and with the right dose to prevent diphtheria. Because if they are unlucky enough to get the disease, there will be many risks to the child's health.

In addition, according to a representative of the Safpo/Potec vaccination system, for diseases with vaccines, people should not hesitate but need to get vaccinated to protect their own safety and take care of their family's health.