Viet Nam says it will ask for inter­na­tional help to find out what is caus­ing a skin infec­tion that has already killed 19 peo­ple. More than 170 peo­ple in the country’s cen­tral province of Quang Ngai have reported symptoms.

The dis­ease begins with a rash on the hands and feet: it can progress to liver prob­lems and mul­ti­ple organ fail­ure. Viet­namese health min­istry tests have failed to pin­point the cause.

The mys­tery ill­ness was first reported between April and Decem­ber 2011 and then sub­sided, but broke out again March 2012. Health work­ers say it responds well to early inter­ven­tion but is dif­fi­cult to treat once established.

Viet­namese media quoted offi­cials in Quang Ngai as say­ing that the con­di­tion might be caused by chem­i­cals. But the health min­istry said it had yet to draw con­clu­sions from its own tests: it hoped to have pre­lim­i­nary results within 10 days.

The full arti­cle may be accessed at http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120423.1110507
(ProMED 4/23/2012)