Severe measles, even at night must take child to hospital immediately

Vaccination for children - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

What should you pay attention to when your child has measles?

Note the signs of worsening measles

Doctor Du Tan Quy, head of the infectious disease and neurology department (Children's Hospital 1), said that on August 21, the infectious disease and neurology department had 38 children with measles being treated. Over the past month, the number of children hospitalized with measles has begun to increase, but has increased dramatically in the past two weeks.

Doctor Quy said that many young mothers, especially those born in the 90s, do not know what measles is because they have never seen measles. Therefore, a few mothers take their children to the doctor immediately when they see their children have a fever or rash, while many mothers wait until their children have complications of pneumonia before taking them to the doctor.

In addition, there are also mothers whose children have mild measles and should be treated at home. However, when the child shows signs of worsening, these mothers do not take the child to the hospital immediately.

These mothers think that the hospital does not examine the child at night, or that the child is probably fine, so they wait until the next morning to take the child to the doctor.

However, according to Dr. Quy, if a child with measles shows signs of worsening and is not taken to a medical facility for immediate treatment, the child's illness will become more severe, possibly leading to complications or complications that will lead to other complications.

Therefore, Dr. Quy emphasized that even at night, if a child with measles shows signs of worsening, the child must be taken to the hospital immediately for timely treatment.

Signs of worsening that need attention are high fever that does not go down, fever with convulsions, frequent vomiting, inability to eat or drink, lethargy that cannot be woken up...

Keep clean, avoid infecting people around

Currently, many children in the community have contracted measles. Measles is an infectious disease that can spread quickly among current infectious diseases.

A child with measles can infect 12-18 children. Therefore, when a child has measles, the family needs to isolate the child to avoid infecting others.

Parents should isolate their children for 5 days from the day the rash first appears. During this time, they should not go out to avoid spreading the disease to others.

When the child becomes seriously ill, call an ambulance or taxi and take the child directly to the hospital emergency department.

Dr. Quy also pointed out the fact that many mothers forget to take their children to get vaccinated against measles. When the doctor asked the mothers why they did not take their children to get vaccinated against measles, the mothers gave many different reasons.

Some mothers shared that due to the economic downturn, they had to worry about going to work, leaving their children with their grandparents and forgetting to vaccinate them. Some mothers were worried about the side effects of vaccines...

Doctors say that with the increasing number of measles cases and the current complicated situation, vaccinating children is the most effective measure to prevent measles.

Adults also need measles vaccination - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Ho Chi Minh City launches measles vaccination campaign

Ho Chi Minh City is implementing solutions to increase community immunity, such as a measles vaccination campaign for children aged 1-5 years old regardless of vaccination history, expected to start on August 24.

Patient triage upon admission

On August 21, Children's Hospital 2 had 9 measles cases being treated, including a 12-month-old case with severe measles requiring a ventilator and who had never received a single dose of measles vaccine.

Faced with the complicated situation of measles in Ho Chi Minh City, recently, to ensure safety and minimize measles infection in medical examination and treatment facilities, the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management has requested the City Department of Health to urgently implement activities to prevent and control measles infection.

Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of Children's Hospital 2, said that Children's Hospital 2 has classified suspected measles patients right from the admission point to avoid spreading the disease to other children.

Children diagnosed with measles will be taken to the isolation room of the infectious disease department or the infectious emergency resuscitation area.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/benh-soi-nang-dem-cung-phai-dua-tre-den-vien-ngay-20240821232701321.htm