On the morning of October 9, Can Tho City began implementing the first phase of the 2024 measles vaccination campaign in 9 districts. The vaccination target in this campaign is children aged 1-5 who have not received enough measles vaccine doses and are living and studying in the city.
According to reporters at Hoa Cuc Kindergarten (An Khanh Ward, Ninh Kieu District), from early morning, parents were eager to take their children for vaccinations to prevent disease.
Ms. Vo Thi Thu (An Khanh Ward) said that hearing that the number of measles cases has increased sharply in the city since the beginning of August has made all parents worried, especially when school has just started. Therefore, as soon as the school announced the expanded vaccination schedule, the family was very happy.
"I took the initiative to get my child vaccinated for safety. The doctors warned that after the vaccination, my child might have a fever due to a reaction from the immune system. I also paid attention to taking care of my child, especially feeding him enough," said Ms. Thu.
Ms. Quang Mong Thuy Trang (An Khanh ward) also asked for leave from work today to take her son for vaccination. "I am very happy that the city has a vaccination campaign for children, which saves some costs for parents. Hopefully, many other parents will also take the initiative to take their children for vaccination to take care of their children's health, this is also a way to protect the community from measles" - Ms. Thuy Trang said.
This morning, Hoa Cuc Kindergarten vaccinated 79 children.
Can Tho City Center for Disease Control (CDC) informed that the first phase of the campaign will take place over 3 days (from October 9 to 11, 2024). The first two days will be vaccinated at schools for groups of children in nurseries, kindergartens, preschools; foster care facilities, social protection facilities, shelters... On the third day, vaccination will be at the Health Station for children who have not yet gone to school and will be given a catch-up vaccination. The second phase of the campaign will be vaccinated for children aged 6-10 (from October 16 to 18, 2024).
Previously, on October 1, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City issued an official dispatch on receiving Measles-Rubella vaccine to vaccinate against measles in 2024. Can Tho City was allocated 20,000 doses of Measles-Rubella vaccine.
It is known that during the rainy season every year in Can Tho City, dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease are often a concern for people, especially parents with young children. However, this year, the number of these cases has decreased compared to the same period last year, instead, measles has shown signs of complicated developments.
In the first 7 months of this year, the city recorded only 7 cases of measles. But since August, the number of measles cases has begun to increase, with 149 cases of suspected measles rash fever and 82 positive measles cases, compared to the same period in 2023, no measles cases were recorded.
At Can Tho Children's Hospital, doctors are currently treating children with measles, most of whom have not been vaccinated or have not received enough doses. In some cases, because the children initially took the wrong medicine, they were in a serious condition when they were admitted to the hospital, with complications, especially respiratory damage.
