Measles in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City and Thanh Hoa
Ho Chi Minh City
Doctor Le Hong Nga, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, said that as of October 13, the city recorded 1,079 measles cases, including 4 deaths.
The disease was recorded in all ages, most commonly in children from 1 to 5 years old, accounting for 35% of total cases; children from 6 to 9 months old accounted for 16% - this is the age group not eligible for vaccination and children from 11 to 17 years old accounted for 6%.
Although the measles vaccination rate in the community has been raised, the number of measles cases in Ho Chi Minh City continues to increase.
Notably, a survey by the City Center for Disease Control showed that about 20% of children residing in the area still have their addresses declared in the system in other provinces or cities. This makes the situation of missing or not fully vaccinated children in the community still high.
Sharing the same view, Master Luong Chan Quang, Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, assessed that although Ho Chi Minh City has implemented the measles vaccination campaign for 5 weeks, the number of cases has not decreased, the effectiveness is not as expected. In fact, the community screening is not good, so there are still many children who have not been vaccinated.
To quickly resolve the measles epidemic, Master Luong Chan Quang said that districts must review the vaccination status in the community, schools must also investigate the vaccination status of students to find the right children who have not been vaccinated and have not been fully vaccinated. Currently, in the southern provinces and cities, there have been outbreaks of measles in adults in factories and enterprises.
Thanh Hoa
In the first week of October 2024 alone, Thanh Hoa province recorded community outbreaks in Sam Son city, Thuong Xuan district and Thanh Hoa Children's Hospital with nearly 40 measles cases.
In Thanh Hoa, the number of suspected measles rash fever cases increased dramatically, more than 5 times higher than the same period in 2023. Currently, the Thanh Hoa Health Department has directed medical units to strengthen measles infection control in medical examination and treatment facilities, and at the same time fully vaccinate people.
The Department of Internal Medicine - Thuong Xuan District General Hospital is treating 4 children with measles, of which 3/4 children have positive IgM test results.
Director of Thuong Xuan District General Hospital Nguyen Thanh Thang said: The hospitalized children all had underlying medical conditions or had not yet been vaccinated. Immediately after receiving them, the hospital organized isolation and treatment in a separate room in the Internal Medicine Department. Currently, the health of the children is stable. Since October 12, the system has not recorded any new infected or suspected infected patients.
Similarly, in Sam Son city, up to this point, 11 cases of rash fever suspected of measles with related epidemiological factors have been recorded. The children were hospitalized for treatment at the Pediatrics Department and the Internal Medicine Department of Sam Son City General Hospital. Of these, 8/11 cases were related to each other, spread by close contact and contact with a patient previously confirmed to have measles.
Measles cases are mainly in children aged 1-5 years (accounting for 47%) and under 9 months of age (accounting for 21%). Notably, most cases are children who have not been vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination history with measles-containing vaccines.