Do not test for swine flu massively - recommendation from the Ministry of Health

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Tran Thi Vuong - Laboratory Department - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Recently, many people have rushed to get tested for swine flu, even waiting in long queues for testing at hospitals. In fact, this is not a new disease, in fact, the rate of helminthic diseases in developing countries (including Vietnam) has always been high (up to 25% of the population in some places). sick). So is swine flu really dangerous, when to test for tapeworms? How to treat and prevent disease?

1. What is swine flu?

Swine flu, also known as rice swine disease, is an infectious disease caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm. People get sick from eating contaminated food containing pork tapeworm larvae or undercooked pork tapeworm eggs, raw vegetables are one of the main causes of the disease.
Normally, tapeworm larvae will die when food is cooked at temperatures above 75°C for 5 minutes or boiled for 2 minutes.

2. After entering the body, how will the larvae or eggs cause disease?

Porkworm larvae or eggs, after entering the body through eating or drinking, will first appear in the stomach. There they develop and hatch into larvae and then into the small intestine. At this time, the tapeworm parasitizes in the intestinal tract and develops into an adult fluke, which is also the source of infection with swine flu. There are cases of tapeworm larvae in the small intestine entering the blood and causing disease in the organs (however, this is very rare) mainly on skeletal muscles, eyes and most dangerously, the brain. However, most when infected with swine flu, the body will have a self-defense mechanism and eliminate the larvae of the fluke, only a few cause symptoms of the disease.

3. When to test for swine flu?

Currently, the number of children infected with swine flu in Bac Ninh is increasing. Many residents are worried about the possible outbreak of swine flu in Hanoi, so they are looking for more information on whether to get tested for tapeworms or not.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), to detect whether rice fluke infection is present or not, it is necessary to rely on symptoms such as abdominal pain, passing out burning flukes or, digestive disorders... along with testing. experience. Patients should think about testing for tapeworms if they have symptoms such as:
Symptoms of fluke burning, digestive disorders, prolonged abdominal pain... When there are signs of tapeworm on the skin (floating) lumps, lumps on the skin) When there are signs that the doctor suspects caused by tapeworms on the brain such as: convulsions, seizures, headaches, paralysis of limbs or quadriplegia, in more severe cases, coma may occur. Occurrence of lumps in the orbit, eyelids, in the conjunctiva, vitreous... In addition to the direct stool test for parasite larvae or tapeworm stings, the blood test for antibodies (Cysticercus cellulosae Ab immunostaining) usually applied. According to the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), many cases, although positive for antibodies when testing for tapeworms, does not mean that they are suffering from swine flu, because most cases of helminthiasis when the body is already infected. If the source of the disease is eliminated, the test will still be positive for antibodies long after that.
A positive test on asymptomatic subjects can only confirm that the person has been infected with helminths, but not whether the person is currently suffering from cysticercosis.

4. How to treat and prevent rice fluke disease

Treatment of rice fluke disease

Tuberculosis is treated with drugs to treat the disease and larvae of the tapeworm disease such as praziquantel, niclosamide and albendazole.

How to prevent rice fluke disease?

Practice eating cooked and drinking boiling water, do not eat raw foods such as pork, spring rolls, rare pork, unhygienic raw vegetables Manage fresh feces, especially in areas where many people are infected with adult tapeworms in gastrointestinal. People with adult swine flu in the intestine must be treated, not defecated indiscriminately. Regular deworming every 6 months. According to the recommendations of the Department of Preventive Health, people should not be tested for tapeworms in large numbers because not all cases of infection with tapeworm larvae cause disease, so testing should only be done when there are suspicious symptoms due to flu. caused by tapeworm larvae. In Vietnam, because the diet that is not safe for food still exists a lot, helminth diseases still account for a high rate, people should protect themselves by taking preventive measures. Regular deworming is an effective prevention and treatment measure.
Master. Doctor. After graduating as a general practitioner, Tran Thi Vuong spent 2 years training in microbiology in Japan. With 9 years of teaching experience at Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, participating in many domestic and foreign scientific research projects, continuous training in Laboratory Biosafety and Laboratory Quality Assurance at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, has experience in diagnostic testing for bacterial and viral infections. Currently, he is a doctor at the Laboratory Department of Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
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