According to the Ministry of Health, at present, the whole country is entering a new school year, students at all levels are returning to school; There is a risk of contracting infectious diseases, especially some infectious diseases such as measles, whooping cough, hand, foot and mouth disease and some diseases transmitted through the respiratory tract.
Sharing about this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dac Phu - former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health said: The health sector needs to fully prepare vaccines in the expanded vaccination program to vaccinate fully. nose, on schedule for children. Must vaccinate and make up for children with missing or omitted noses.
Measles has been controlled with vaccines, but recently due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, many children have not been vaccinated, due to lack of vaccines in the expanded vaccination program, so many children do not have immunity.
Measles has a cycle of 4-5 years, causing a large outbreak. Even though the measles vaccination rate is high (90-95%), there are still 5-10% of children who are not vaccinated. Cumulatively over 5 years, 50% of children born in 1 year will be at risk of measles and so the absolute number of cases is very high because the ability to spread measles is very strong, it can be said that those who have not been vaccinated Anyone who comes into contact with measles patients can be infected.
2014 and 2019 were two strong measles outbreak cycles, especially in 2014, more than 100 children died from this disease.
In 2024, according to the 5-year cycle, there may be an outbreak. To prevent disease, in addition to the scheduled vaccination group (1st shot at 9 months of age and booster shot at 18 months of age), the Health sector needs to have a plan to organize catch-up and catch-up vaccinations for children who have not been vaccinated, especially Pay attention to the vaccination depression area.
Regarding the cause of some infectious diseases, according to Mr. Phu, it is partly due to "gaps" in vaccination, reduced community immunity, and increased epidemics.
The Health sector needs to recommend propaganda for people to understand disease prevention measures and which diseases have formulas to prevent them.
In addition, it is necessary to have a plan to fully vaccinate with basic shots and comply with booster vaccinations. Recently, due to lack of vaccine due to the COVID-19 epidemic, now and in the future it is necessary to vaccinate and compensate.
According to Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, many children have had enough vaccinations but can still get sick, it is quite normal because vaccines are effective to a certain extent.
The reason for this is because the highest vaccine effectiveness is only 90% effective, while 10% are still at risk of infection, not to mention some vaccines are only 70-80% effective. But people who have been vaccinated against the disease will have a milder illness.
In particular, with vaccines that require repeated injections, people need to remember the schedule to get enough shots and doses. In addition, local health authorities need to review the list of children who have not been vaccinated or have not received enough vaccinations and advocate for parents to take their children to be vaccinated to minimize vaccination "gaps".
The Ministry of Health has just launched activities to respond to "World Immunization Week 2024" with the theme "Joining hands to vaccinate and prevent epidemics for a healthy Vietnam" and launched the vaccination campaign. measles.
