According to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper at Can Tho Children's Hospital (Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City), the measles situation is currently complicated, with the number of measles cases increasing rapidly and with serious complications.
At the hospital's Infectious Diseases Department, measles patients are spread out from the patient's room to the hallway. Among them, there are patients who are only a few months old and even patients who are 14 - 15 years old.
Sitting in a hospital bed holding her 13-month-old son who had measles, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc No (22 years old, O Mon district, Can Tho city) said that when the disease started, her son had a high fever of 39 - 40 degrees Celsius and convulsions, so she took him to the hospital for monitoring.
“During the 2 days of hospitalization, the baby started to have a rash, was fussy, could not eat or drink anything, continued to have a high fever that did not go down and had another seizure, so the doctors put the baby on oxygen,” said Ms. No.
Similarly, Ms. Mai Thi Anh Thu (25 years old, Cai Rang district, Can Tho city) shared that her baby was only a few months old. At first, the baby had a fever but the medicine did not reduce it. After 2 days, the baby's condition got worse, so she took the baby to the hospital. After that, the baby fainted and had difficulty breathing, so she had to be given oxygen.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Specialist II Doctor Huynh Hung Dung - Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Can Tho Children's Hospital - informed that in the first months of 2024, the hospital only received a few cases of rash fever (including measles), but from June until now, the number of rash fever cases has increased, the rate of complications is high and severe, mainly complications of pneumonia and respiratory failure.
“On October 8, there were 2 measles cases requiring ventilator intervention and 4 cases requiring oxygen. However, the 2 cases on ventilators have passed the quarantine period and have been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit to continue using ventilators,” said Dr. Dung.
Dr. Dung explained that for measles cases where conventional supportive medications do not work, oxygen therapy and mechanical ventilation are needed. Depending on the severity of the disease, different anti-respiratory failure therapies will be needed.
“Children with measles often have typical symptoms such as high fever and rash. Some cases of wheezing, coughing with phlegm, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing, especially chest retraction, in which case the child has respiratory failure and needs oxygen intervention, and antibiotics to treat severe pneumonia,” said Dr. Dung.
According to the Head of the Infectious Diseases Department of the hospital, at this time, the number of rash fever cases is increasing 10 times compared to the same period last year. On October 7 alone, the hospital's Infectious Diseases Department had nearly 230 rash fever cases (including measles). By October 8, doctors had discharged 85 cases, but the number of rash fever cases is still increasing, because every day they receive more cases transferred from other departments.
Faced with the complicated situation of measles, the Can Tho City Department of Health has issued an official dispatch guiding the implementation of the Measles Vaccine Supplemental Vaccination Campaign in Can Tho City in 2024.
Starting today (October 9), the City Center for Disease Control is organizing a city-wide measles vaccination campaign, with a total of 20,000 doses of Measles-Rubella vaccine, divided into 2 phases, until October 18.
