The British pilot with Vietnam Airlines is recovering from COVID-19 at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Doctors and scientists in Vietnam who have beenusing various therapies and medicines to treat COVID-19, a newdisease that has no standard treatment protocols, have been able to save anumber of critically ill patients.
A 43-year-old patient, a British pilot with Vietnam Airlines, who wascritically ill for months, is now being treated at Cho RayHospital in HCM City, where he has had a "miraculous recovery",according to a report from the National Steering Committee forCOVID-19 Prevention and Control.
The patient has not had to use ventilation for 60 hours, andrespiration has recovered. He is conscious and can communicate withdoctors and nurses. His kidneys, heart, and liver functions have alsoimproved.
However, the muscle strength of his legs remains weak. Hehas physical therapy twice a day, and no longerneeds antibiotics.
As of June 15, the patient had spent 89 daysin treatment, the most of any COVID-19 patient in the country.
Before being transferred to Cho Ray, he was treated at the HCM CityHospital for Tropical Diseases. His lungs recovered 30 percent of theircapacity at that time.
Dr Nguyen Thanh Phong, head of the HCM City Hospital for TropicalDiseases' department for infectious diseases D, told Vietnam News that“During treatment, doctors at the hospital and Cho Ray Hospital discussednew therapies to treat him.”
“We decided to use the anticoagulant Xarelto, which has neverbeen used in hospitals in Vietnam, to replace the drug heparin that hadbeen used when he was on the ECMO (extracorporeal membraneoxygenation) machine, which pumps blood out of the body and removes carbondioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back.”
“The patient was allergic to heparin, which reduces platelet count andcauses bleeding, threatening his life. So the drug heparin wasstopped,” Phong said.
The anticoagulant was used for 10 days until medicine imported fromGermany arrived.
The other severely ill COVID-19 patient at HCM City Hospital forTropical Diseases was transferred from the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu’sGeneral Hospital on May 10.
After 23 days of treatment, she recovered and was discharged on June 1.
“Herlung was damaged more severely than the pilot’s. She suffered vaginal bleeding.After treatment, her health was OK,” Phong said.
The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases has also treated a number ofseverely ill COVID-19 patients.
In one case, the heart of a 64-year-old woman with COVID-19 fromHanoi stopped beating on three occasions. An ECMO machine was used tomaintain her life for 17 days. She also received dialysis treatment.
At one point, her heart stopped beating for 40 minutes,but hospital doctors provided emergency aid in time to save her.
After more than two months of treatment, her lung function improved andshe was able to communicate with the hospital’s doctors andnurses. On May 27, she was discharged from the hospital.
Another severely ill COVID-19 patient, 88, was treated initiallyat the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and then Bach Mai Hospitalfor further treatment.
The patient, from Hung Yen province, had suffered an intracranialhaemorrhage, which paralysed one side of herbody, before testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 on April 14.
Because of her health status, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases’doctors and nurses had to frequently keep watch by the patient’s bedside toadjust her medicine.
The treatment helped the patient recover. Respiration gradually improvedand ventilation was no longer needed.
The patient tested free of SARS-CoV-2 and was transferred to BachMai Hospital for further treatment on May 5.
The woman was the country's oldest COVID-19 patient treated at ahospital.
Vietnam has had no deaths caused by COVID-19 so far, Dr Luong Ngoc Khue,head of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment under the Ministryof Health, said.
According to the Ministry of Health, 325out of the 335 confirmed cases or 97 percent, have recovered andbeen discharged from hospitals. The country has seen no new COVID-19 infectionsin the community for 62 consecutive days./.
VNA
