Help Saving Dying Child From Vietnam

Hand in hand, please help a 10-month-old save his life. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. We will be forever indebted to your kindness and generosity. Minh Hiền

Vu Minh Duc is a 9 month-old Vietnamese boy, born on Sep. 15, 2018 and is his mom’s first child. He was born with immunodeficiency, a rare disease, without any acknowledgment on his condition. He was vaccinated for tuberculosis (TB) disease when he was about 3 month old and because of his immunodeficiency, he was diagnosed with pneumonia infection. At 3.5 month-old, he was hospitalized for 3 weeks with intensive antibiotic treatment but the treatment did not help.

He was transferred to the National Hospital in Vietnam in 3 months to cure pneumonia. When he recovered from pneumonia, he then suffered from pimples burst and sore all over his tiny body. Doctors could not find the cause for his condition and recommended his mom to send him to Singapore for examination.

In Singapore, after one week of hospitalization at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, the doctor concluded that he had a congenital immunodeficiency. Pimples on his body are caused by tuberculosis complications due to poor immunity to TB vaccines and TB bacteria have developed into disease. This is also the cause of pneumonia in the early stage. The TB bacteria have now spread throughout his body, from the skin, internal organs, lungs, brain, nose, to mouth and blood. The bacteria thrive to form fibroids in the kidneys and armpits.

The bacteria and viruses can be cured with prolonged treatment. However, the root cause of Duc’s disease is congenital immunodeficiency and the only way can help is to replace his bone marrow as soon as possible to protect his life.

The cost of bone marrow transplantation in Singapore is very high. Doctors advised that children with severe immunosuppression are very susceptible to infection, so traveling back to Vietnam now is very dangerous for Duc and they cannot guarantee Duc’s life if we take him home. However, if a bone marrow implantation can be done in Singapore, the doctors will ensure high possibility of success.

Currently, Duc’s immunity is in the most severe congenital impairment and on the highly dangerous side. He has been infected with Candida fungus into his brain and the TB infection is also so severe that he needs a transplant as soon as possible.

Though it is heartbreaking to see Duc in his condition, we are very thankful that he is being treated and attended well in KK Women's and Children's Hospital. However, due to the prolonged hospital stay, his medical bill is also increasing. The cost for Duc treatment in Singapore until this point has ballooned to S$30,000. His family is spending all their saving, selling their own house and try to manage as much as they could to take care of him but the cost to replace the marrow is beyond his single-mom ability.

Duc is a very brave and sweet little boy. His mom is willing to do everything for Duc. In this light, she is humbly asking you to help us with Duc's medical bills.