Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City is one of three tertiary hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, responsible for treating severe pediatric cases. With experience from many epidemic seasons, from the beginning of 2024, the hospital has developed a response plan for epidemics that may occur every year.
According to Dr. Ngo Ngoc Quang Minh - Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, since June 2024, the number of hospitalizations due to measles has begun to increase, especially since August. In the first 8 months of 2024, the hospital recorded 368 hospitalizations, of which 42 were severe (11%) and were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. Patients transferred from provincial levels accounted for 66%, children under 12 months old accounted for 55%, and children with underlying medical conditions accounted for about 25%.
Dr. Quang Minh added that the worrying thing now is that most of the severe patients are transferred from the provincial level. The rate of children who have received two doses of vaccine is 0%, while up to 84.6% of severe patients have not received any vaccination. Currently, of the 42 severe patients, 28% require ventilators and 60% have underlying diseases. Fortunately, there have been no deaths.
To control the situation of measles cross-infection in the hospital, Children's Hospital 1 has established an anti-epidemic steering committee and developed detailed plans to detect and handle measles cases effectively, while also planning the necessary personnel, medicine, supplies and equipment.
“When examining a patient, children with measles symptoms will be screened at the Examination Department. Severe cases will be transferred to the isolation area, while patients who are not severe will be monitored and treated at the hospital's measles clinic. Patients who need to be hospitalized will be placed in separate areas. The hospital pharmacy also has a separate door to sell medicine to children with or suspected of having measles. Every step is organized separately,” Dr. Quang Minh emphasized.
The current burden on tertiary pediatric hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City is the high number of patients being transferred to other hospitals. Despite annual support and training for lower-level hospitals, patients still flock to them, increasing the risk of infection.
Concerned about this issue, Dr. Nguyen Trong Khoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health said that during the measles epidemic, all patients and visitors to the hospital are required to wear masks, especially those with severe illness and at high risk.
Infection prevention in hospitals is a lesson learned from the National Children's Hospital, requiring isolation, triage and infection prevention. To minimize referrals, the health sector needs to re-establish a remote support channel, helping patients to be treated locally, creating peace of mind for provincial health facilities.
“Normally, seriously ill children are often transferred to Ho Chi Minh City, and can accidentally bring the disease back to the province, causing the final hospital to become a measles distribution center to the localities, which is very dangerous. We recommend measles vaccination right at the hospital for eligible cases, along with treatment classification. It is expected that on September 2, we will update the new measles treatment regimen and then deploy training for local medical facilities nationwide,” emphasized Dr. Trong Khoa.
