Diep left for Saigon on Friday to commemorate her father's death anniversary. This is the second or third time she has been to Saigon this year, the last time was during the Tet or Lunar New Year holiday. While she was home last time she took her mother for a physical examination and they kept her for observation for a couple of days because of poor vital signs.
I just got off the phone with Diep this morning to learn her mother is back in the hospital. This time in the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Mom, from what Diep was telling me, stepped on a nail last week and contracted tetanus. This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone, anywhere getting tetanus, mostly because the disease has been all but eradicated in the U.S. An easy inoculation prevents infection.
After a quick search on the internet I found statistics stating seven people in the southern region of Vietnam died from tetanus in 2011. Other information indicates most deaths occur in infants and elderly. Wikipedia painted a pretty bleak picture of what one goes through in the course of infection and the month long recovery.
Vietnam has had an active inoculation program since 1992 that has greatly reduced instances of tetanus in the country, but the 10 year booster is something I imagine many people forget about or neglect to take the time to take care of. I know if I didn't work for the U.S. Government I would probably be one of those neglectful individuals.
The good news is Diep had the insight to purchase health insurance for her family a couple of years ago. Having to recover from such a physically debilitating disease is hard enough without worrying about the financial fall out. Her mother has a long road to recovery ahead. My heart and prayers go out to her.
1 comment:
Interesting. Of all the things an older person would get you wouldn't think it would be tetanus..not here in the U.S. anyway. I hope she recovers as quickly as possible and your right, good thing for the insurance.
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