According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, as of early April 2025, the whole country has recorded more than 54,000 cases of measles. In Hanoi alone, there have been 2 deaths from measles.
In March 2025, due to not being vaccinated against measles, a child born in 2021 (44 months old) in Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi died.
Although measles cases are mainly found in children, adults with measles are still at risk of becoming more severe. Most recently, an adult patient (Hanoi) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes died after two weeks of treatment at Bach Mai Hospital. This is also the first death from measles in adults in 2025.
According to doctors, measles is an acute infectious disease, transmitted through the respiratory tract. Measles has symptoms such as fever, rash, inflammation of the respiratory tract, conjunctivitis and digestion.
Doctor CKII Dao Van Cao, Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, E Hospital, said that for patients with underlying diseases, the patient's immunity is very low, so the risk of disease and worsening will be higher than normal patients.
"Common complications in measles patients are myocardial inflammation, some diseases of enteritis, mediastinal ear inflammation, pneumonia... Therefore, patients need to monitor their health regularly for early detection and treatment, to avoid the disease getting worse," Dr. Dao Van Cao shared.
According to Dr. Cao, most of the cases treated at the hospital in the past did not remember their vaccination history and did not know their exposure history.
Hanoi Children's Hospital has also received a number of cases of children infected with measles while being treated for underlying diseases.
According to MSc. Dr. Nguyen Van Truong, Deputy Head of the Department, Head of the Intensive Care - Anti-Poison Department of Hanoi Children's Hospital, children with underlying diseases will often have more severe measles than normal children. Patients with underlying diseases such as atrophy, malnutrition, dow disease... when coming to the hospital for measles treatment, most of them have to use oxygen and ventilators.
"To reduce the risk of severe development in children, especially children with underlying diseases, we must monitor regularly to detect severe signs as soon as possible, thereby allowing early intervention to help patients recover and avoid severe development," said MSc. Dr. Nguyen Van Truong.
According to doctors, in people who have not been vaccinated against measles, the risk of disease when exposed to the source of the disease is also very high. Currently, measles vaccination is a very safe and effective disease prevention measure. Adequate vaccination not only helps protect yourself but also helps control epidemics in the community.
