Hanoi reports abnormal rise in measles cases

A boy is vaccinated in Hanoi's Hai Ba Trung District.
(Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - As many as 271 cases of measles have been reported in Hanoi since the beginning of this year, compared to just 60 for all of last year.

According to the municipal Department of Health, the number of cases has increased weekly and most measles patients were children under five years old.

Most of the infected children have not been vaccinated or did not receive full vaccinations.

In some cases, newborns under nine months old who were not old enough to get the measles vaccination caught the disease because they did not receive proper measles antibodies from their mothers.

Director of the Hanoi Preventive Medicines Centre Nguyen Nhat Cam said that the measles cases were found across all districts in the city, not localised in one area.

He said about 140,000-150,000 babies were born in Hanoi yearly and about 5 percent of the newborns were not vaccinated.

Measles can spread easily, Cam said, warning parents to have their children vaccinated properly.

Doctor Dang Nhat Quang from Saint Paul Hospital said it was abnormal to see more children get measles during the summer as the peak time for measles outbreaks is usually the transition period between winter and spring.-VNA