Ms. Bui Tu Quynh (Long Bien ward, Hanoi) plans to get pregnant this year, so she proactively researches health issues that may affect pregnancy. Through monitoring information about the epidemic, she knows that this is the peak season for infectious diseases such as measles, which can occur at all ages, so she has proactively gone for vaccination.
Through research, I know that if I get measles during pregnancy, it can affect the health of the fetus. Vaccination is an effective measure for me to prevent the disease for myself and the baby as well as limit the risk of spreading in the community," Ms. Quynh shared.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hau (Thanh Xuan ward, Hanoi) also said that she took her child for vaccination as soon as they reached the age due to concerns about the risk of measles outbreaks. According to Ms. Hau, young children have weak resistance, and if they get measles, complications are likely, so full vaccination is the safest way to protect them.
This is an acute infectious disease caused by the measles virus and has the ability to spread very quickly, often breaking out into epidemics. The disease has an incubation period of 7-18 days, averaging about 10 days. People with measles can be infected from 5 days before to 5 days after the rash.
The disease is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract when inhaling secretions from the nose and throat of the patient spreading in the air or directly contacting these secretions. In a closed living environment, most people without immunity are at risk of the disease.
In the early stages, measles may only show mild symptoms such as fever, respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, and less rash, so it is easy to be overlooked. In typical cases, patients often have a high fever continuously for several days, accompanied by cough, runny nose, red eyes, and Koplik particles may appear in the mouth.
After about 3-4 days of high fever, red rash begins to appear from behind the ears, nape, face and then gradually spreads down to the body and limbs. When the rash grows out of the whole body, body temperature usually gradually decreases. After that, the rash becomes pale, scaly and leaves dark spots before completely disappearing.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Luong Quoc Dai - Head of VNVC Icon4 Cau Giay Vaccination Center - said that in addition to the ability to spread quickly, the disease can also cause many dangerous complications such as pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and even death if not treated promptly.
If pregnant women contract measles, the disease can increase the risk of fetal malformations, miscarriage, and even death. Therefore, measles vaccination before pregnancy, vaccination for children and community vaccination are very necessary," Dr. Dai emphasized.
In addition, people should pay attention to wearing masks, washing hands with soap, cleaning the environment to be ventilated and isolating patients to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
