Russian tourists in Vietnam complain of an unknown illness: what is known and what the tourism industry says

What tourists report

Information about Russians falling ill in Nha Trang, Vietnam, appeared on November 7: Gazeta.Ru, citing the Telegram channel SHOT, reported an outbreak of an unknown virus at one of the country's main resorts. Those who fell ill complained of flu-like symptoms after arriving. One tourist said that his daughter had a runny nose in the evening, and by morning she developed a fever and a severe headache; the child was hospitalized. According to local doctors, several similar cases have already been identified at the resort, but they cannot determine the type of virus; many of the patients are children.

Complaints and tourists' theories

A 39-year-old Muscovite reported that she has been suffering from a severe cough for three weeks. According to her, doctors could not make an exact diagnosis even after a CT scan, for which she paid 12 thousand rubles, and they prescribe patients antiviral drugs and antibiotics. The tourists themselves suggested that microbes in the air conditioner could have contributed to the spread of the illness. These theories come from the tourists and have not been confirmed in the publications.

Reaction of agencies and the tourism industry

Rospotrebnadzor took an interest in the situation and contacted Vietnam's Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, the Russian Union of Travel Industry gave a different picture: according to TASS, citing the RST, influenza incidence in Vietnam is at a seasonal level, and tour operators have not recorded mass complaints about the flu from organized tourists from Russia. Thus, at the moment there are reports of specific cases of illness and an appeal from Rospotrebnadzor, but there is no official confirmation of the existence of an 'unknown virus' in the publications — the contradiction between the description of the outbreak and the RST's assessment remains unresolved.