Measles cases decrease not as expected
At the meeting on measles prevention and control in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of October 16, MSc. Dr. Le Hong Nga - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) - informed that the timely measles vaccination campaign contributed to reducing the possibility of a large measles outbreak in the city.
However, the actual coverage rate may not reach 95% (HCDC survey is 86%), there is still the possibility of sporadic cases or clusters of cases and transmission to people outside the age range vaccinated in the campaign.
In addition, the situation of children living in the area but not being screened and newly vaccinated was recorded in both suburban and urban areas. Children's information was not updated on the national vaccination information management system even though they had lived in the locality for a long time.
According to MSc. Dr. Luong Chan Quang - Head of the Department of Disease Control and Prevention - Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, currently, the measles situation in 19 southern provinces except Ho Chi Minh City is increasing rapidly. However, fortunately, the outbreak has very few people, mainly spontaneous cases.
Currently, over 50% of measles cases are detected and treated in Ho Chi Minh City. Many children with underlying diseases are also transferred to hospitals and treated in the city.
Because of this, the measles rate in Ho Chi Minh City but not among the city's residents is still high.
Localities strengthen self-review
Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health - said that according to the world's medical theory, if the vaccine coverage rate reaches 95%, the number of cases will decrease rapidly. However, in reality, in the past 2 weeks, measles cases in Ho Chi Minh City have decreased but not as expected.
The City Health Department has assigned HCDC to re-examine and re-evaluate. The reason may be that the vaccination list has missed out on the target population.
The Ho Chi Minh City Health Department will continue to review and supplement the target subjects for vaccination. Each locality needs to review and make a practical list for the Health Department to update in order to better manage the work of disease prevention.
Concluding the meeting, Ms. Tran Thi Dieu Thuy - Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - requested the steering committees of districts to directly review and organize inter-sectoral activities appropriately and seriously.
Remind 6 localities with high measles vaccination rates but still high number of cases, including Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon districts, Binh Tan district, District 12, Thu Duc city. Because this is an important responsibility and the localities need to try harder, strive to soon announce the end of the epidemic.
According to HCDC, as of October 13, the cumulative number of measles cases was 1,079; 4 deaths. Measles cases were still detected in all age groups. The 1-10 year old group still accounted for a high proportion of the total number but the growth rate was slower; the 6-9 month old group and the over 11 year old group increased rapidly.
