At the Pediatrics Department of Thanh Nhan Hospital (Hanoi), the beds are full because of the large number of children with respiratory diseases being admitted. The area for treating children with measles is separated to avoid infection.
Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong (Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) whose daughter is being treated at the Pediatrics Department said: "Initially, the child had symptoms such as fever, cough, headache, mouth ulcers, then 5 days later a red rash appeared and spread all over the body.
When he was admitted to the hospital, he had complications including laryngitis. His family had forgotten to vaccinate him against measles for a long time, so they were quite worried.
Dr. Nghiem Thi Mai Sang, Head of Pediatrics Department, Thanh Nhan Hospital, said that in the past month, the hospital has received and treated nearly 40 patients with measles.
Most of the children admitted to the hospital had high fever, cough and runny nose. These are also symptoms of respiratory tract infection, similar to many diseases. Some children with fever and rash were tested to diagnose measles.
“The number of children with measles recorded is mainly children between the ages of 4 months and 8 years old. Many children when hospitalized have complications of pneumonia and laryngitis, there have been no recorded severe cases such as encephalitis,” said Dr. Sang.
Explaining the reason for the increase in measles, Dr. Sang said that measles has been breaking out in a cycle of about every 10 years. In Hanoi, 2024 is also the year of the predicted outbreak, after the measles outbreak in 2014.
In addition, the spread of measles is also due to factors such as: The current winter-spring weather is a favorable environment for the measles virus to develop and spread.
Some other causes are that the immunity due to measles vaccination in children is not complete or the immunity is not effective. In particular, the incubation period and progression of measles are quite long, leading to a long period of infection. The correct diagnosis of measles is usually when the child has a rash, at which point the family can isolate the child.
Dr. Nghiem Thi Mai Sang also noted about measles vaccination for children. When injecting one dose of vaccine, the effectiveness can drop below 80%. However, when injecting 2 doses, the body will produce antibodies that reach 90% - 95% of the vaccine's effectiveness. Therefore, the doctor recommends that families pay attention to the measles vaccination schedule and fully vaccinate their children according to the instructions to ensure that children have full immunity against the disease.
