Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Health(MoH) is considering a lung transplant for a British man infected with COVID-19,who was the 91st patient and also the most severe case in the country.

Both lungs of the man, a pilot with a Vietnameseairline, are in poor conditions, Prof. and Dr. Nguyen Van Kinh, head of MoH’s professionalcouncil for COVID-19 treatment, said at a meeting on May 5.

Confirmed as a COVID-19 patient on March 18, theman has had a high fever since being hospitalised and his respiratory system beengetting worse despite him being just 43 years old and in otherwise good health.

He is suffering from a blood clotting disorder andcytokine storm syndrome - an intense immune response where the immune system releasesa lot of cytokines through the bloodstream, which actually works against insteadof protecting the body.

As his body has been resistant to all types of clottingmedication, the MoH has had to buy rare drugs overseas for his treatment, Kinh noted,adding that the patient has been on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)- a life support machine - for 33 days, since April 6.

Of the two other severe cases, Patient 19 no longerneeds support from an ECMO or a ventilator. She is now able to talk and eat andis in the rehabilitation process. Patient 161, meanwhile, has been free of COVID-19and is receiving additional care at the Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital to recoverfrom the effects of a stroke.

There have not been any deaths among the 288 confirmedCOVID-19 cases in Vietnam.

Kinh said that regarding the death of Patient 251,the professional council affirmed that he died from cirrhosis, viral hepatitis,and chronic gout. He had earlier been cured of COVID-19 and monitored for afurther 15 days, and he tested negative five times before continuing to receivetreatment for liver disease at the General Hospital in northern Ha Nam province.

Prof. and Dr. Le Quang Cuong, former Deputy Ministerof Health, told the meeting that all diagnoses, treatment, and testing guidelinesin Vietnam closely follow recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO),the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and China. They have alsobeen updated with findings from research and clinical trials around the world.

Experts from WHO and the CDC in Vietnam highly valuelocal efforts in COVID-19 prevention and control. US specialists said they are readyto coordinate with Vietnam to build an appropriate testing strategy in the timeahead./.