Why has the number of measles cases in Ho Chi Minh City increased recently?

Population movements and the omission of unvaccinated children at school are among the reasons for the increase in measles cases in Ho Chi Minh City.

Preliminary survey results of children aged 1-5 with measles in Ho Chi Minh City show that some children do not have information on the National Immunization Information System and some children have declared addresses in other provinces.

Population movements and the omission of unvaccinated children in schools are among the reasons for the increase in measles cases.

In addition, a survey of children with measles also found that 13 schools reported completing vaccination campaigns but still had children who had not been vaccinated.

In week 45, the total number of measles cases in Ho Chi Minh City was 167, an increase of 29% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks, including 99 inpatient cases (an increase of 7.6%) and 68 outpatient cases (an increase of 81%).

Accumulated from the beginning of the year, the number of measles cases in the city is 1,635, including 1,241 inpatient cases and 394 outpatient cases, of which there have been 3 deaths.

In addition, the number of cases from other provinces coming for examination and treatment at the 3 Children's Hospitals and the Tropical Diseases Hospital also increased by 44% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks, including 366 cases, of which 229 were inpatients. Since the beginning of the year, the cumulative number of measles cases from other provinces is 2,565 cases, including 1,931 inpatients and 1 death has been recorded.

The measles vaccination campaign for children aged 1-10 years has contributed to controlling the number of cases in this age group. However, the surveillance system recorded that the number of new cases continued to increase in the group of children aged 6 months to under 9 months.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the number of patients from 6 months to under 9 months old is 274 children, currently accounting for 17% of the total number of cases in the city.

In addition, there has been an increase in the number of cases in older age groups. Specifically, in August 2024, there were an average of 8-9 cases per week from 11 years old and above, accounting for 12% of the total number of cases per week. Now, there are an average of 40 cases per week in this age group, accounting for 30% of the total number of cases per week.

Faced with the increasing number of new measles cases, the Department of Health directed the HCDC to conduct a survey on 51 children aged 1 to 10 years old who contracted measles in week 44 and recorded that up to 32 children (accounting for 64%) had not been vaccinated against measles before contracting the disease.

There are many reasons why children are not vaccinated, such as parents working far away from home, living with grandparents, frequently changing residences, children often getting sick, etc. However, it is worth noting that up to 14 children (accounting for 27% of the total number of sick children surveyed) were not vaccinated by their parents or relatives even though they were invited many times and the children had absolutely no contraindications.

These children would not have gotten measles if their parents or relatives had taken them to get vaccinated during the City's vaccination campaign.

During the investigation of sick children, HCDC also assessed the organization of measles vaccination at the schools where sick children were attending and noted that schools missed children who needed to be vaccinated during the campaign.

Specifically, there are 2 schools that have not organized a vaccination campaign at school and 15 schools reported that they had completed the vaccination campaign before but now still discovered sick children and these children have not been vaccinated at all.

This shows that the work of reviewing vaccination history and making a list of children needing vaccination has not been done well in some schools.

Therefore, although the campaign has been implemented for more than 2 months with a very high reported vaccination rate, in reality there are still new measles cases every week during the campaign period.

Also in this survey, HCDC recorded that up to 17% of sick children aged 1 - 5 years old (6/35) had addresses declared on the Immunization Information System in other provinces and 23% of children (8/35) did not have their names on the system.

The current situation of the address declared on the system not matching the actual address or not having a name on the system leads to the consequence that the child is not managed and invited for vaccination by the ward or commune health station. This is a big challenge in the management of vaccination subjects in the City.

The fundamental solution to this challenge is that each locality from commune to ward, district to province must continue to seriously implement the activity of "going to every alley, knocking on every door, checking every subject" and strictly comply with the Regulations on the use of the national vaccination information management system issued under Decision 3421/QD-BYT of the Ministry of Health issued on July 23, 2017.

From this situation, the Department of Health recommends that the People's Committees of districts, towns, and Thu Duc City need to direct the Health Center to coordinate with the local Department of Education to review the progress of measles vaccination at schools.

At the same time, the District People's Committee needs to continue to update the situation of displaced children in each locality, promote the role of departments, unions and community health collaborators, and not miss out on children who have not been vaccinated against measles in the area.

In parallel with continuing to implement the measles vaccination campaign for children aged 1-10 years old, the City Health Department is preparing to deploy a measles vaccination plan for children aged 6 months to under 9 months old.

The health sector recommends that parents and family members proactively vaccinate children against measles to protect them.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/vi-sao-so-ca-mac-soi-tai-tphcm-tang-cao-thoi-gian-qua-d229992.html