The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases once admitted a male patient in critical condition with symptoms such as shortness of breath, high fever, rash and acute respiratory failure. The patient was diagnosed with measles, accompanied by complications of serious respiratory failure.
The patient had symptoms of headache, fatigue and conjunctival thrombosis for 10 days. Although he bought fever-reducing medicine on his own, his condition did not improve. After 6 days, symptoms became worse, including high fever, shortness of breath and redness. The patient was transferred to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where the condition continued to worsen, with high fever, rash, diarrhea and nhiemment. After 1 day, the patient switched to acute respiratory failure and was treated with high-flow oxygen. After 4 days of active treatment, the patient's condition improved significantly, fever and diarrhea decreased, respiratory failure improved and the indicators were stable.
At the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, there are not many cases of measles in adults but they are scattered.
At the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Bach Mai Hospital is currently treating many cases of measles with complications. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Do Duy Cuong, Director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, since the beginning of the year, the hospital has received hundreds of measles cases in adults, an average of 10-20 cases per day. Common symptoms include fever, rash, cough, watery eyes and runny nose. However, many patients progress severely with complications such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, hyperlipidemia, diarrhea, and even encephalitis - meningitis. Notably, most of these cases have not been vaccinated or have been vaccinated but have not been vaccinated again.
Doctor Pham Van Phuc, Deputy Head of the Intensive Care Unit, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that measles is an acute infectious disease, transmitted through the respiratory tract, with symptoms of fever, rash, respiratory inflammation, conjunctivitis and digestion. The disease can easily cause serious complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and sometimes death.
Measles in adults is rare, often occurring in people who have not been vaccinated, have weakened immunity or underlying diseases. Adults are easily subjective because they think only children have measles, leading to the disease spreading easily and progressing severely. Dangerous complications can occur such as encephalitis, paralysis, strep, pneumonia, blindness, premature birth, miscarriage in pregnant women.
When detecting symptoms, people should go to a medical facility for timely examination and treatment. Measles in adults can occur in people without antibodies, usually with an incubation period of 7 - 21 days.
Many people still subjectively believe that measles is just a mild disease and will go away on its own after a few days. However, reality shows that the disease can cause dangerous complications if not treated promptly. When symptoms such as fever, rash, and prolonged cough appear, the patient needs to go to a medical facility immediately for examination and treatment.
Currently, measles is on the rise in Vietnam, not only in children but also in adults, especially those with underlying diseases or weakened immune systems. Measles vaccine is a safe and effective vaccine, recommended by the Ministry of Health to be vaccinated against all children and re-iningue periodically. Adequate vaccination not only helps protect personal health but also contributes to controlling epidemics in the community. Measles is not a simple disease as many people mistakenly believe, so take the initiative to prevent it before it is too late, Associate Professor, Dr. Cuong recommended.
