Measles reported in 43 provinces and cities nationwide

The ministry noted that up to 90 percent of
infected children had not received a vaccination, leading to a high risk for
the disease to spread.  
In late 2018, the ministry launched an
additional for 4.2 million children aged
between 1 and 5 in 57 provinces and cities.

In Ho Chi Minh City, measles cases were
discovered in all 24 districts with the majority of cases recorded in Binh Thanh,
Thu Duc and Binh Chanh districts.

The city’s
reported that surveys revealed 95 percent of measles patients were not
vaccinated.

The capital city of Hanoi had recorded 114 cases
of measles since the start of 2019, a sharp increase in comparison with the
same period last year when only eight cases were reported, the municipal Health
Department said.      

Of the figure, 89.1 percent of patients had not
been vaccinated or did not have full vaccinations against the disease.

Director of the city’s Disease Control Centre
Nguyen Nhat Cam said measles was a highly infectious respiratory disease and
often infected children under five years old or adults who were not vaccinated
or did not get full vaccinations. Symptoms include fever, coughing, runny nose,
inflamed eyes and red, flat rashes on the skin. It can spread very fast,
particularly in crowded places.

The municipal Department of Health last year
decided to run an additional measles-rubella vaccination campaign for children
aged between 1 and 5. The campaign, starting last November, has vaccinated
574,191 out of 607,023 children, equalling 95 percent.

The department warned that people should be more
active in getting vaccinations. Many parents delayed vaccinating their children
over worries about side effects.

The first shot against measles was supposed to
take place at nine months old and the second shot at 18 months old, according
to the Ministry of Health’s national immunisation guidelines. 

In the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, measles has spread
again after being brought under control in late 2018.

The situation had become complicated as measles had been reported
in both children and adults who were not vaccinated, particularly those in the province’s
remote areas, according to director of the provincial Preventive Medicine
Centre Pham Van Lao.

The provincial was taking many measures to prevent
the disease from spreading further by vaccinating children between 1-5 years
old and those who were not vaccinated, providing health check-ups for early
diagnosis and raising public awareness of preventive measures against measles,
he said.-VNA