According to the Ministry of Health, measles is spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and transmission can only be stopped when community immunity reaches at least 95%.
The disease can cause many dangerous complications such as otitis media, pneumonia, diarrhea, corneal ulcers, encephalitis, and can lead to death. There is no specific treatment for measles, vaccination is an effective measure to prevent the disease.
To prevent measles, the Department of Disease Prevention, Ministry of Health recommends that people proactively take children from 9 months to 2 years old who have not been vaccinated or have not received 2 doses of measles vaccine to get fully vaccinated on schedule and other age groups (6-9 months, 1-10 years old) to participate in the measles vaccination campaign according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.
Do not let children get close to or come into contact with children suspected of having measles; wear masks in crowded places, and wash hands frequently with soap when caring for children.
Keep your child's body, nose, throat, eyes and mouth clean every day; ensure nutrition and keep your child's body warm.
Nursery schools, kindergartens, and schools with large numbers of children need to be kept clean, airy, and well-lit; toys, learning tools, and classrooms should be regularly disinfected with common disinfectants.
When detecting signs of suspected measles (fever, cough, runny nose, rash), it is necessary to isolate the child early and take him/her to the nearest medical facility for timely examination and treatment advice.
According to Dr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Disease Prevention, the reason for the increase in measles this year is due to the low vaccination rate.
Although the vaccination rate has been over 95% in recent years, there was a period before that when it was below 90%, leading to the accumulation of a group of children who were not vaccinated and had no immunity. The vaccine is highly effective, but one dose only gives 85% immunity, and two doses give 90%.
In addition, vaccination rates in remote areas and ethnic minority areas are still low, creating conditions for epidemics to break out.
Meanwhile, in provinces and cities with high vaccination rates, the number of cases is only scattered, not forming large outbreaks, showing that the vaccine has contributed to controlling the epidemic.
During the 2020-2023 period, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, measles vaccination rates decreased significantly, with many places below 90%, increasing the risk of an outbreak in the 2024-2025 period. In the past, there was a lack of measles-rubella vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program, resulting in low vaccination rates.
Vietnam is also in the 5-year measles epidemic cycle. The two most recent measles epidemics were in 2019 and 2014. In 2014 alone, more than 110 children died from measles. Because 5-10% of children have not been vaccinated against measles, this number can spread to groups who are not old enough to be vaccinated and have no immunity to the disease.
According to the Department of Disease Prevention, among measles cases since the beginning of the year, 90.8% have not been vaccinated, 4.9% have unknown vaccination history, and 4.3% have been vaccinated.
While measles is a more contagious disease than COVID-19, 90% of people who are not immune will get sick if they come into close contact with a measles patient, and on average, one infected person can infect 12-18 others.
Faced with that situation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued an official dispatch requesting to accelerate measles vaccination, in which the Prime Minister requested the Minister of Health to continue to direct and support localities to accelerate the implementation of the measles vaccination campaign, and to complete the campaign no later than March 31.
Source: https://cand.com.vn/y-te/benh-soi-dang-lay-lan-nhanh-bo-y-te-khuyen-cao-phong-benh-i762332/
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