6 patients with chronic subdural hematoma were operated under local anesthesia and were premedicated with analgia lidocain 2% at An Giang hospital from November 2003 to April 2004. Among them 5 patients were complication of head trauma and one of unknown etiology. 3 patients were over 70 years old (the highest was 70 and the smallest was 32); 2 patients were in a coma with GCS = 8 points, without patient was in a coma with GCS < 8 points; 1 patient had very high risk with ASA (IV) and 2 patients had very high risk with ASA (III). The surgical procedure lasted from 30 to 45 minutes for hematoma removal. All patients had good outcome after 24 hours. The duration of hospitalization were from 7 to 15 days. All of them were discharged well
Anesthesia, Local ; surgery ; Hematoma, Subdural, Chronic

Objective:Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) is endemic in poultry in Viet Nam. The country has experienced the third highest number of human infections with influenza A(H5N1) in the world. A study in Hanoi in 2001, before the epizootic that was identified in 2003, found influenza A(H5N1) specific antibodies in 4% of poultry market workers (PMWs). We conducted a seroprevalence survey to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to influenza A(H5N1) among PMWs in Hanoi, Thaibinh and Thanhhoa provinces.Methods:We selected PMWs from five markets, interviewed them and collected blood samples. These were then tested using a horse haemagglutination inhibition assay and a microneutralization assay with all three clades of influenza A(H5N1) viruses that have circulated in Viet Nam since 2004.Results:The overall seroprevalence was 6.1% (95% confidence interval: 4.6–8.3). The highest proportion (7.2%) was found in PMWs in Hanoi, and the majority of seropositive subjects (70.3%) were slaughterers or sellers of poultry.Discussion:The continued circulation and evolution of influenza A(H5N1) requires comprehensive surveillance of both human and animal sites throughout the country with follow-up studies on PMWs to estimate the risk of avian–human transmission of influenza A(H5N1) in Viet Nam.

The Omicron variant caused a surge of infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Viet Nam in early 2022, signalling community transmission. We report on active whole-genome sequencing surveillance of positive SARS-CoV-2 samples collected at that time in northern Viet Nam from international arrivals and community clusters. We used an amplicon protocol developed with 14 polymerase chain reaction products and the Illumina iSeq 100 platform. Overall, 213 nasopharyngeal or throat swabs were analysed, of which 172 samples were identified with the Omicron variant. Of these, 80 samples were collected from community cases in February 2022, among which 59 samples were sublineage BA.2 and one sample was the recombinant XE variant. Our results indicated that Omicron had replaced Delta as the dominant variant in a very short period of time and that continuously conducting active whole-genome sequencing surveillance is necessary in monitoring the evolution and genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Viet Nam.

This article describes Viet Nam Ministry of Health’s (VMoH) activities to prepare for and respond to the threat Zika virus (ZIKV), including the adaptation of existing surveillance systems to encompass ZIKV surveillance.

Objective: Epilepsy is understudied in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. This systematic review aimed to determine the number of epilepsy publications performed in SEA and identify factors associated with research output in this region. Methods: Existing academic journal article searches were performed using PubMed, Scopus, Medline and Web of Science till 1st March 2018. Openness is determined by the use of English in medical school and overseas epilepsy fellowship. Results: A total of 702 epilepsy articles have been published in the last 50 years in the SEA region, with an exponential increase of publications after the year 1997, with the cumulative number doubled every 5 years. Only half (54%) were published in the journals with impact factor (IF) ≥1. Majority of the publications (48.2%) employed cross sectional design, followed by animal or laboratory studies (21.1%), with few randomized controlled trials and systematic review/meta-analysis studies (1.7% and 2.3%, respectively). Half (52.9%) of the publications were clinical studies. The number of papers with IF≥1 correlated positively with openness to international standard (R=0.720, p<0.05), and knowledge-based economy (p=0.01). Conclusion: Epilepsy research output in SEA is low in quantity and quality. The output is mainly related to the type of economy (knowledge-based or non-knowledge-based) and openness to international ideas and standard.