Fatal skin disease takes toll in central Vietnam
Deadly skin infection baffles Vietnam doctors
People wait for medical check-ups outside a healthcare center in Ba To district
- ucanews.com reporter, Quang Ngai City
- Vietnam
- July 6, 2012
Dinh Lam is pale and thin. He breathes with difficulty as his wife helps him sit up to drink and eat, or go to the bathroom.
“The only food I’m eating now is porridge made from rice, carrots and potatoes, and I take herbal medicine made by my wife,” Lam says in a weak voice.
Weighing just 40 kilograms, he says he sold three of his cows for 15 million dong (US$750) to pay for treatment. But after six months at three state-run hospitals in and around Quang Ngai City in central Vietnam, doctors had little idea what is wrong with him.
“I decided to return home from the hospital two weeks ago because my disease was not improving and I have no money left,” says Lam. “I am now waiting for death. I have no choice.”
The farmer, who lives in a small, 40-square-meter house with his five family members, is one of 216 people that have suffered from a mysterious skin disease since an outbreak was first reported in Ba To district in April last year, according to the Health Ministry, which has reported 12 deaths so far.
Local authorities have put the toll at 23, however.
Another patient, Ha Y Dua said her husband died of the disease last May. She said she sold her sugar cane farm, cows, jewelry and other valuables to cover his treatment.
The ethnic H’Re woman said her nine-year-old daughter and herself are suffering symptoms of the disease including tiredness, vomiting, heavy breathing, pain in their stomachs and a hot feeling throughout their bodies.
She is receiving treatment at the Quang Ngai General Hospital which is already overloaded. Patients have to lie in the lobby and even sleep under trees in the compound of the hospital.
“We have no more money to cover medical costs and have lost all hope of being cured of the disease. We will go home and die,” said Ha Y Dua.
The Symptoms are severe and uncomfortable. First, the skin thickens and breaks out in blisters on the hands and feet followed by vomiting, swollen lips, breathing difficulties and eventually multiple organ failure. The liver is particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Two experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention visited the area of the outbreak and identified the disease last month.
It has been confirmed that the syndrome is characterized by a chronic intoxication that can lead to inflammation and lesions of the hands, feet and liver.
However, the cause of the disease, referred to as inflammatory palmoplantar hyperkeratosis syndrome by the WHO, is still unknown.
“We do not know what causes the syndrome or its source of transmission," said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO’s representative in Vietnam. "Identifying the cause may take longer than anticipated or prove elusive.”
Related reports
Ministry warns of disease epidemic
Health department sees spike in viral illness
“The only food I’m eating now is porridge made from rice, carrots and potatoes, and I take herbal medicine made by my wife,” Lam says in a weak voice.
Weighing just 40 kilograms, he says he sold three of his cows for 15 million dong (US$750) to pay for treatment. But after six months at three state-run hospitals in and around Quang Ngai City in central Vietnam, doctors had little idea what is wrong with him.
“I decided to return home from the hospital two weeks ago because my disease was not improving and I have no money left,” says Lam. “I am now waiting for death. I have no choice.”
The farmer, who lives in a small, 40-square-meter house with his five family members, is one of 216 people that have suffered from a mysterious skin disease since an outbreak was first reported in Ba To district in April last year, according to the Health Ministry, which has reported 12 deaths so far.
Local authorities have put the toll at 23, however.
Another patient, Ha Y Dua said her husband died of the disease last May. She said she sold her sugar cane farm, cows, jewelry and other valuables to cover his treatment.
The ethnic H’Re woman said her nine-year-old daughter and herself are suffering symptoms of the disease including tiredness, vomiting, heavy breathing, pain in their stomachs and a hot feeling throughout their bodies.
She is receiving treatment at the Quang Ngai General Hospital which is already overloaded. Patients have to lie in the lobby and even sleep under trees in the compound of the hospital.
“We have no more money to cover medical costs and have lost all hope of being cured of the disease. We will go home and die,” said Ha Y Dua.
The Symptoms are severe and uncomfortable. First, the skin thickens and breaks out in blisters on the hands and feet followed by vomiting, swollen lips, breathing difficulties and eventually multiple organ failure. The liver is particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Two experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention visited the area of the outbreak and identified the disease last month.
It has been confirmed that the syndrome is characterized by a chronic intoxication that can lead to inflammation and lesions of the hands, feet and liver.
However, the cause of the disease, referred to as inflammatory palmoplantar hyperkeratosis syndrome by the WHO, is still unknown.
“We do not know what causes the syndrome or its source of transmission," said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO’s representative in Vietnam. "Identifying the cause may take longer than anticipated or prove elusive.”
Related reports
Ministry warns of disease epidemic
Health department sees spike in viral illness
