Health

Cold weather sees spurt in meningitis among children

One of the physically demonstrable symptoms of meningitis is Brudzinski’s sign The onset of cold weather in Ho Chi Minh City has seen more children admitted to hospitals with meningitis, health officials say. A total of 16 children have been treated for meningitis at the Children’s Hospital No.2 this month,...

Chinese-sausage maker suspended for adding outdated additives

Factories making Chinese sausage in Ho Chi Minh City have been using unclean equipment and additives past their expiry date, city health inspectors found Thursday. An inspection of the Sanpan factory in Binh Tan District found four boxes of the Phosphates Mix additive imported from Thailand were past their expiry...

Carcinogen found in soya sauce again

Carcinogenic substance 3-MCPD was found in larger than permitted amounts in some soya sauce products sold in Ho Chi Minh City, city health inspectors said Wednesday. Two tainted products among the samples collected were the Soyabean Sauce in 500-ml plastic bottles produced on Nov.12 and Seasoning Soya Sauce in 450-ml...

Vietnam produces first solid waste treatment incinerator

The first made-in-Vietnam incinerator for treating toxic solid waste has been put in use at hospitals across the country. The incinerator, made by the Institute of Environment Technology and the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology, has two compartments, the first of which burns the waste at around 800 degrees...

Vietnam halts steel plants after illnesses: paper

Nearly 90 students and teachers of Quan Toan school were hospitalized presumably from toxic fumes Vietnamese authorities have ordered several steel plants in the port city of Hai Phong to suspend production after nearly 90 people at a nearby school were hospitalized, presumably from toxic fumes, a newspaper reported. ...

Official warns of avian flu recurrence

Without strengthened preventive measures, it is very likely a bird flu epidemic would break out in the country again, a health official warned Thursday. Hoang Van Nam, deputy head of the agriculture ministry’s Animal Health Department, attributed the high likelihood of recurrence to the cold weather and increasing...

Turn your back on the common cold

There are several traditional ways to treat flu. Rubbing the back to take the toxins out is one of them. Vietnamese traditional medicine has treatments for many ailments that can, in some ways, be called non-medicinal. For instance, traditional medicine pioneer Tue Tinh (in 14th century) came up with several ways...

Nationwide check begun on watermelon seeds

Health officials inspect the premises of a watermelon seeds producer in the south-central Binh Thuan Province. Food safety authorities have launched nationwide testing of toasted watermelon seeds after the popular snack was found soaked in carcinogenic chemicals last week in central Da Nang City. Le Thi Hong Hao,...

Vietnam’s H1N1 death toll climbs to 50

The death of three more people last week, including that of two pregnant women, have taken the nation’s death toll from the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 50, the health ministry reported Wednesday. One woman, 28, from the central province of Quang Tri was six months pregnant, while the other, 23, from the northern...

Da Nang health center gives wrong advice on vaccines

A women’s health center in Da Nang City is doing its clients a disservice, charging higher fees and giving out wrong information, a Thanh Nien investigation has found. The Da Nang Pregnancy Health Center offers Cervarix, a vaccine against cervical cancer, for women 10-55 years of age, while an instruction in...