HCM City sees a rise in measles cases 

Young children are vaccinated against measles at a medical facility in HCM City. —VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The number of measles cases is forecast to rise as the Tết (Lunar New Year) and Spring festivals approach, doctors said.

Statistics from the HCM City Centre for Disease Control showed that the city recorded 451 cases of measles in the first week of this year, up 14 per cent compared to the average of the previous four weeks.

Bình Chánh and Bình Tân districts and Thủ Đức City reported high numbers of measles cases during the period.

To respond to the measles epidemic, the city’s health sector is focusing on a measles vaccination campaign for children from six months to nine months old.

In addition, it continues to review and implement the measles vaccination campaign for children from one to 10 years old in the city to ensure that no children who have not been vaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated are missed out on vaccinations.

Dr. Dư Tuấn Quy, head of the Infectious Diseases and Neurology Ward at the Children’s Hospital 1 in HCM City said that the ward has arranged additional patient beds and more medical staff have been mobilised to the ward amid the rising number of hospitalised cases of measles.

Most of the measles cases requiring hospitalisation were transferred from other cities and provinces and many of them had not been vaccinated, Quy said.

“Measles virus has the highest transmission rate of all types of viruses, higher than influenza or COVID-19. One person with measles can infect 16-18 others. Currently, vaccination is the best way for disease prevention and the only way to end the measles epidemic,” he said.

Trương Hữu Khanh, Vice President of the Infectious Diseases Association in HCM City, said that the Lunar New Year holidays and spring festivals are approaching with a number of entertainment activities and crowded gatherings that can make measles and other infectious diseases easily spread.

Currently, many localities do not have a measles vaccination campaign while holiday travel and gatherings during Tết are huge, posing a high risk of spreading the disease, Khanh said.

Vaccinations for adults and children aged above 10 are also important to protect vaccinated people and the community, especially children under six months old, who are not yet eligible for measles vaccination, he said. —VNS