A Medical Emergency in Saigon

Here's what happened when four members of a family came in contact with the Nairobi Fly

We just got back from our Southern Vietnam family holiday. And I use the word 'holiday' in inverted commas.

This trip was to be the experimental trip that would determine whether or not I put into action my plan to take my family to a different country every year to broaden my kid's cultural  experience.  My husband warned me that South East Asia might be a bit of big first step, especially with 3 young children, but I was determined.  'It'll be fine', I said, but I didn't take into account the dreaded.....Nairobi Fly.

We had the unfortunate experience of falling victim to this little insect while cruising around the Mekong Delta a couple of days into our 2 week holiday.  This inoccuous little insect, about 1cm long and 2-3mm wide, that looks like a flying ant, is actually a beetle.  And it doesn't bite or sting, but instead releases a toxin that is released when it is crushed .  It breeds in wet rotting soil and leaves, and increases in population at the end of the rainy season. They are drawn to candles or light fittings at night, and this is where  we saw them.  Our beautiful  and luxurious boat cruised the Mekong Delta for two nights, and each night we noticed these little insects buzzing around the lights outside our cabin on the upper floor.  With all the coming and going into each other's cabins it could not be avoided that they came into the cabins, and showed up quite clearly on the snowy white doona/duvet covers of our beds. I know my 8 year old son was brushing them off his bed before going to sleep, and also that my 4 year old son squeezed a couple between his fingers.

Click on the photo to link through to a Blog by Doc ...... from whom I have blatantly borrowed this photo

On the last morning of the cruise I noticed a distinct 'smear' on my youngest son's chin.  And my husband's eyes were red and puffy.  Throughout the day, both of them got worse. And it started to spread.   By the time we had left the boat, travelled 4 hrs back to HCMC by van, and checked in at the domestic airport for the next leg of our journey, it became pretty obvious that we needed serious medical attention.

I called our emergency medical insurance number back in Australia who gave me details of an appropriate medical centre in the city. The Family Medical Practice.  I don't mind saying that I was terrified at what we might find there. Language issues? Decaying buildings and facilities?  Mopeds and dust parked in the lobby?   Nope.  None of that.  Clean, modern, efficient, and wonderful service. But they didn't know what was wrong with us.  And still we got worse.

 Two days later and hideous sores and lesions, 'chemical burns' as it turned out, were popping up everywhere.  The toxin released by the insect was so severe and caused such a reaction, that even the most microscopic amount coming in contact with the skin  created another outbreak of irritated skin that was too horrible to describe.  And my husband and all three of my children got it.   And what do children do when they have a sore?  They touch it.  And then they touch somewhere else...

By day 3 all four of them were in hospital, on antibiotic IV and still no-one knew what was going on.  But here is where I talk about the wonderful FV Hospital in Ho Chi Mihn City.

 For those of you wondering about medical/hospital facilities in this city, this is for you:  My youngest son, in the worst state, was transferred by ambulance at 3am to the FV Hospital.  I don't know the politics behind it, but this hospital is a joint project between the French Govt and  the Vietnamese; whereby French doctors come for 6 - 12 month stints, supplementing the local medical doctors and nurses with western doctors.  I'm sure there is funding too from the French Govt. as after visiting a local hospital in another part of the country at the end of our stay, it was pretty clear that the standards were worlds apart.

The FV hospital is about a US$6 taxi fare from the centre of the city that takes about a half hour (due to traffic, not distance). When you arrive, you are greated by doormen who open your taxi door and escort you through automatic glass doors and into a lobby resembling more that of an office tower than a hospital.  There are leather lounges, elevators and air-conditioning.  There is an information desk 10m long and no queues.  It is service, service, service.  Walk on through to the Consultation/waiting area though it is a bit more hectic, and the pharmacy is also more populated than what we are used to. But it is all very efficient, service orientated and modern.  Everything is posted in  French, Vietnamese and English (in that order).

I can't comment on the costs as our overseas travel insurance dealt directly with the hospital, and in any case Australian hospitals are free so anything is going to seem expensive to us.

The equipment was everything I would expect in a hospital.  Everything worked and everything was clean.  It may not have been the latest and greatest, but it was functional.  To give an example, the hospital beds themselves were older models that I haven't seen for a while in the expensive private hospitals back home.  Instead of electronic buttons to raise and lower, all bits and pieces of the bed were lowered by lever.  All IV equipment and day to day bits and pieces were identical to what we were used to.

 We had not given much thought to medical facilities before we left Australia, but I can assure you that when your children are sick in another country you suddenly have an overwhelming fear and conviction that you would be better off at home.  Perhaps this is the case, but I will say that I am sure that had I been at home in Beautiful Brisbane, Australia, no-one could have diagnosed our obscure tropical problem.  The doctors here were fantastic.  I truly can't rave enough.  Both French and Vietnamese. Everyone we came in contact with could speak English, including the nurses, though sometimes this was basic.  As for the nurses, they were smiling, willing, helpful and in contrast to Australia, there were so many of them! 

Seven days from when it started, we all left the hospital.  Bruised, bandaged and sore, but healing.  The kids don't want to travel overseas again so they tell me - though I don't think they'll get a vote in the matter when we're deciding our next exotic location.