Ministry of Health explains the reason for the recent increase in measles

Measles, a highly contagious disease, has been on a sharp rise since late 2024 and is expected to continue into the first months of 2025.

Vaccination restrictions

According to Dr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Disease Prevention (Ministry of Health), measles control in the community can only be achieved when the rate of specific protective immunity reaches at least 95%. However, the situation of incomplete or no vaccination causes the number of people susceptible to measles to increase, creating an immune gap and increasing the risk of disease spread.

Measles has experienced major outbreaks, occurring every five years or so, due to the accumulation of non-immune individuals in the community. Measles used to mainly affect children. However, thanks to the widespread implementation of measles vaccination over the years, measles has been controlled and significantly reduced.

A representative of the Ministry of Health spoke at a conference on measles prevention held on the afternoon of March 15.

However, according to information from the National Online Conference on Measles Prevention and Control chaired by Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, measles has shown signs of increasing since the end of 2024 and this situation continues to be complicated in early 2025. In particular, the number of measles cases is mainly in children from 9 months to under 15 years old, accounting for 72.7% of the total number of cases.

Dr. Hoang Minh Duc said that most of the current measles cases have not been vaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated. In fact, more than 95% of the cases have unclear vaccination status or have not been vaccinated. This leads to a situation where community immunity is not strong enough to prevent the spread of the disease.

Measles is a highly contagious disease, and community transmission can only be stopped if protective immunity is at least 95%. Failure to fully vaccinate, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage, creates gaps in immunity that can lead to outbreaks.

In addition, the recording of measles cases in children under 9 months of age, who are not old enough to be vaccinated, further increases the risk of spreading the disease. This phenomenon is creating a major challenge in epidemic prevention work.

Measles is currently mainly found in large cities with high population mobility. However, the number of cases is also increasing in mountainous provinces. Localities with high numbers of cases include Cao Bang (582 cases), Nghe An (737 cases), Quang Nam (499 cases), Da Nang (2,043 cases), Khanh Hoa (1,661 cases), Dak Lak (621 cases), Gia Lai (1,879 cases), Kon Tum (624 cases), Dong Thap (1,202 cases), An Giang (1,046 cases) and Lam Dong (476 cases).

Some provinces and cities have seen an increase in the number of cases but have begun to show signs of slowing down and are being better controlled, such as Lao Cai (1,180 cases), Ha Giang (6,017 cases), Ha Tinh (547 cases), Binh Thuan (1,208 cases), Bac Lieu (1,167 cases), Ho Chi Minh City (3,321 cases), Binh Duong (2,085 cases), Dong Nai (4,099 cases), Tay Ninh (668 cases), and Ca Mau (1,995 cases). Provinces with low numbers of cases, such as Thai Nguyen (13 cases), Yen Bai (5 cases), Lang Son (7 cases), Bac Kan (14 cases), Hoa Binh (8 cases), Bac Giang (45 cases), and Bac Ninh (144 cases), need to pay close attention to monitoring and early detection of cases to prevent the spread.

An important reason for the increase in measles is low vaccination rates, especially in areas with low vaccination rates.

The fact that some people are still complacent and do not vaccinate their children fully and on schedule is creating a great risk for the spread of the disease. Anti-vaccination sentiment is also on the rise, especially in large cities, making disease control even more difficult.

In addition, according to Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, the current funding for disease prevention is limited and delayed, not meeting the needs of preventive medicine in a timely manner. This makes it impossible for many localities to promptly implement disease prevention measures, especially vaccination activities.

Speaking more about measles, Dr. Cao Viet Tung, Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital, said that from 2024 to March 13, 2025, the National Children's Hospital recorded 3,107 cases of measles, of which more than 50% had to be hospitalized. Analyzing more clearly, Dr. Cao Viet Tung said that in 2024, the Hospital recorded 796 cases of measles hospitalized, but in just the first 3 months of 2025, there were 1,367 cases.

In particular, the rate of children with measles who have not been vaccinated is quite high. Through an investigation of 1,459 patients over 9 months old with measles who were hospitalized, 50% of the children had not been vaccinated against the disease.

The Minister of Health is also concerned that measles is transmitted very quickly through the respiratory tract, 90% of people who are not immune will get the disease if they come into close contact with a measles patient, and on average, 1 infected person can infect 12-18 other people, and the transmission can only be stopped when community immunity reaches at least 95%.

Measles can cause dangerous complications, especially serious in young children and malnourished children. The number of measles cases has decreased compared to the previous period, but the current cycle of measles outbreaks is every 5 years.

In 2024, the Ministry of Health has issued many documents and telegrams to implement the measles vaccination campaign, in addition to regular vaccination in the expanded immunization program (vaccinating younger or older ages). During the implementation process until 2025, measles cases are still complicated.

According to the Director of the Department of Disease Prevention, measles is a specific disease, the transmission rate is faster than Covid-19, the risk of cross-infection in hospitals and then spreading to other provinces is very high. Therefore, only vaccination coverage reaching over 95% can prevent the spread, create community immunity and reduce outbreaks in the community.

Screening of vaccination subjects

According to Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, recently, the Ministry of Health has submitted many documents to the Government and decisions to implement measles vaccination in 2024.

In addition to the regular vaccination program for children of all ages, expanded vaccination has been implemented for children aged 6-9 months and 9 months to 10 years with 2 million doses of vaccine. However, some areas in Vietnam have gaps in immunity to measles.

Although the number of measles cases is on the decline, the epidemic situation cannot be ignored. It is forecasted that there will continue to be many cases of rash fever suspected of measles in provinces and cities across the country, especially in mountainous areas where there are many ethnic minorities and access to health services is limited. Provinces with low vaccination rates are still at high risk of spreading the epidemic.

Dr. Hoang Minh Duc emphasized that continuing to promote vaccination and raising public awareness of the importance of measles vaccines is extremely necessary to prevent disease outbreaks. Measles prevention measures need to be implemented strongly and promptly to avoid the spread of the disease.

In the context of the epidemic that can develop complicatedly, health agencies need to coordinate closely with local authorities and the community to control the epidemic, protect people's health and ensure community stability.

To control the epidemic, the health sector recommends that people, especially families with young children, follow the measles vaccination schedule.

Children from 9 months of age need to be vaccinated with the first dose, the second dose at 15 - 18 months and the third dose when the child is 4 - 6 years old. For children at high risk or living in an epidemic area, early vaccination from 6 months of age can be considered.

The Director of the Department of Disease Prevention also emphasized that vaccination not only helps protect children's health but also helps prevent the spread in the community.

Sharing the same view and emphasizing the role of vaccines, according to Dr. Nguyen Tuan Hai, Safpo/Potec Vaccination System, vaccination is the only way to protect children and adults from this potentially dangerous disease. Countries around the world are required to achieve and maintain a coverage rate of over 95% with 2 doses of measles vaccine.

Children and adults need to proactively get vaccinated against measles fully and on schedule to help the body produce specific antibodies against the measles virus, helping to prevent the risk of measles and severe complications, with outstanding effectiveness of up to 98%.

In addition, each person needs to proactively clean their eyes, nose, and throat with antiseptic solution every day. Limit gathering in crowded places, avoid close contact with people showing signs of measles or suspected of having the disease, and do not share personal items with people with the disease. Keep your living space clean and supplement foods to help strengthen the immune system.

If you experience symptoms of measles (fever, runny nose, dry cough, red eyes, sensitivity to light, rash all over the body), you should quickly go to the nearest medical center or facility for timely examination and treatment.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/bo-y-te-ly-giai-nguyen-nhan-benh-soi-gia-tang-thoi-gian-qua-d254208.html