Health Ministry issues plan against MERS-CoV

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health on June 6 issued an action plan against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in an effort to promptly detect and treat cases and to prevent an outbreak of the disease in Vietnam.

Passengers' body temperature is checked at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)

The plan includes solutions for three scenarios; one in which no cases have been reported; another in which some cases have been identified; and lastly, one in which the disease has begun to spread in a community.

The plan underlines the importance of supervision, especially at border gates, and personal protection for medical staff.

The plan recommends the health sector establish a network of hospitals ready to admit and treat patients in accordance to each scenario, to prevent overloading.

Rules on medical examination, isolation, treatment and the prevention of infection and cross-infection at hospitals must be strictly followed, while the methods of diagnosis and treatment of MERS must constantly be reviewed and updated.

According to the ministry, prevention measures are highly necessary as the possibility of MERS entering Vietnam and developing into an epidemic is high given that the disease is able to be spread through human contact.

MERS has spread from the Middle East to some Asian countries and no vaccine or medicine has been found to cure the disease.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)