Nghiêm Thị Mai Sang, Head of the The Paediatrics Department at Hà Nội-based Thanh Nhàn Hospital said that among the measles cases admitted to the hospital, some children were too young to receive the measles vaccine, while others had incomplete vaccinations or missed doses.
Since the beginning of this month, the number of measles cases in southern provinces and cities has been increasing and will continue to grow until the beginning of next year, according to the HCM City Pasteur Institute.
Reports from local authorities show that over 961,793 children have been vaccinated as part of the campaign across 31 provinces and cities. However, progress in some localities remains below target, the ministry said.
The influx of patients has overwhelmed the hospitals' capacity, forcing them to add beds in the hallways and reassign medical staff from other departments to help.
The city's health sector has established 12 rapid response teams to address measles outbreaks in schools amid rising cases and slow vaccination coverage among children.
With the measles vaccination coverage for children in HCM City still being low, it needs to focus on increasing it since there is an outbreak of the dangerous viral disease, a conference heard on September 5.
The campaign will cover 135 districts across 18 provinces and cities. It aims to administer over 1.1 million doses of the measles-rubella vaccine to children in high-risk areas.
Healthcare workers in HCM City gave measles vaccines to nearly 17,000 children aged between one and five years during the National Day holidays (August 31 – September 2).
Data from the Department of Preventive Medicine reveals that measles cases have surged by over 800% since the beginning of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with the disease spreading in several regions.
Statistics from HCM City Centre for Disease Control showed that in the past week, the city recorded 85 cases of fever accompanied by rash with 20 cases confirmed to be measles.
The Ministry of Health launched a campaign to provide measles vaccines for children nationwide at an online conference on August 22, to mark World Immunisation Week 2024.
The Health Ministry has urged HCM City authorities to take immediate action against the current measles outbreak, which has resulted in the deaths of three children.
Facing a high risk of a measles outbreak, HCM City’s Health Department plans to give supplementary measles vaccination to more than 500,000 children aged one to five years in the city.
