On February 26, at the conference to review the work of preventing and controlling infectious diseases in 2024 and the plan for preventing and controlling infectious diseases in 2025 in Hanoi, the Ministry of Health said that in 2024, the situation of infectious diseases nationwide will be basically controlled.
However, some infectious diseases have increased in number such as measles, whooping cough, rabies, some diseases such as dengue fever, diphtheria have increased locally in some localities.
Regarding the results of infectious disease prevention in 2024 and the plan for 2025, Mr. Nguyen Luong Tam - Deputy Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) said that according to statistics, the number of dengue fever cases since the beginning of the year has recorded 141,000 cases, down 16.7% compared to 2023; 28 deaths, down 17 cases compared to 2023. Of which, Hai Phong has the highest number of cases with more than 23,000 cases, Ho Chi Minh City recorded more than 14,000 cases.
Hand, foot and mouth disease recorded more than 76,000 cases, down 55.8% compared to 2023, with no deaths recorded. Some provinces with high numbers of cases are Ho Chi Minh City (17,882), Tien Giang (5,467), Dong Nai (4,968), An Giang (4,187), Dong Thap (3,717).
Regarding seasonal flu, in 2024, the country recorded 287,548 cases and 8 deaths; compared to 2023, the number of cases decreased by 18.6% and the number of deaths increased by 5 cases. Some localities with high numbers of cases include Thanh Hoa (46,600 cases), Thai Binh (26,345), Nghe An (17,949), Ha Tinh (12,807), Son La (10,162).
Notably, according to the report, in 2024, the number of suspected measles rash fever cases was 38,364, an increase of more than 94 times compared to 2023, and 6,725 measles positive cases, an increase of more than 130 times compared to 2023.
Some provinces have high numbers of cases such as Dong Nai (6,360 cases), Ho Chi Minh City (4,758), Binh Duong (4,745 cases), Ca Mau (2,405)... The whole country has recorded 13 deaths due to measles, mainly children due to disease on top of disease, elderly people with underlying diseases. Mr. Nguyen Luong Tam emphasized that measles is a disease of concern at the present time.
"The reason is that the epidemic is always complicated and unpredictable, with the risk of outbreaks, new and re-emerging diseases, diseases of unknown causes, and continuous mutations of pathogens.
Regarding rabies, last year there were 84 deaths. The number of whooping cough cases in 2024 was 1,074 (an increase of 21.9 times), including 1 death. There were 76 cases of monkeypox scattered in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the vaccination rate, and vaccination subjects have not been well managed. Awareness of disease prevention is still limited, some people are subjective and negligent. In particular, the "anti-vaccine" situation of a part of the population has caused many children to miss vaccination. This has led to an increase in some vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles in recent times," Mr. Tam emphasized.
In addition, Mr. Tam also stated that there is a shortage of medicine, medical supplies and equipment that sometimes occurs locally, causing difficulties in disease prevention and control.
