Published Date: 2012-01-05 22:10:03
Subject: PRO/MBDS> Undiagnosed illness - Viet Nam: Quang Ngai, RFI
Archive Number: 20120105.0037

UNDIAGNOSED ILLNESS - VIET NAM: QUANG NGAI, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Thu 5 Jan 2012
Source: Sai Gon Giai Phong (SGGP) [edited]
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Health/2012/1/99234/


A 4-year-old boy from Ba To District in the central province of Quang
Ngai succumbed to a strange skin ulcer which has affected many people in
the region.

The General Hospital in the central province of Da Nang announced on
Wednesday [4 Jan 2012] that a 4-year-old male patient had died after
undergoing treatment for one day.

The kid was taken to the hospital with skin ulcers that looked like
severe burns on his palms and soles of his feet, besides also suffering
serious liver damage.

Until now, the mountainous district of Ba To in Quang Ngai Province has
reported 98 patients suffering from this strange malady which causes
skin ulcers on the palms and soles. 25 children have so far been
affected, with 2 reported deaths.

The disease seems to be spreading rapidly in the central province.
Experts at the Vietnam Central Dermatology Hospital conducted a study in
early October [2011] on 61 of the victims and concluded that the disease
is being caused by harmful farm pesticides.

Most of the victims range between the ages of 16 to 49. The youngest so
far has been 4, and the oldest has been 72 years of age.

[Byline: H Minh]

--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
<promed-mbds@promedmail.org>

[The article above updates the situation of an undiagnosed disease in
Quang Ngai, Viet Nam, which PRO/MBDS has reported previously (see
archive numbers 20110916.2829 and 20111014.3076).

Since April 2011, 98 people including 25 children, are reported to have
presented the same skin symptoms. Among those, 2 died.

Although the newswire mentions that the disease is caused by pesticides,
there is no information about what specific agent it is and how these
patients were exposed to the pesticides.

PRO/MBDS would appreciate further information from knowledgeable sources
regarding this undiagnosed illness in Quang Ngai province, Viet Nam.

For a map of Viet Nam with provinces, see
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/VietnameseProvincesMap.png.
For the interactive HealthMap/ProMED-mail map with direct links to other
outbreaks in Viet Nam and surrounding countries reported on ProMED-mail
and PRO/MBDS, see http://healthmap.org/r/1f3d. - Mod.QCN]

See Also