Tran Dac Phu, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine, examines a patient with measles at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Parents have delayed taking theirnine-month-old children to healthcare facilities for measles vaccinationsbecause of insufficient counselling from hospitals and doctors at vaccinationcentres.
The delay has led tomore reported cases of measles and an increased risk of an outbreak, accordingto the Preventive Medicine Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.
The first vaccine shotagainst measles is supposed to take place at nine months old and the secondshot at 18 months old under the national immunisation guidelines of theMinistry of Health.
Le Hong Nga of thePreventive Medicine Centre said that many hospitals and vaccination centreswere also providing two-in-one vaccines that immunise against both measles andrubella. The first vaccine is scheduled at 12 months old and the second shotthree to five years later, under the manufacturers’ guidelines.
Dr Nguyen Thi Hong Bien,deputy head of the District 8 Health Centre, however, said that “many parentsdon’t trust what we say about the two-in-one vaccine”.
“They are told they mustget the second shot three or five years later after the shot at 12 months oldby doctors at hospitals and vaccination centres. But they don’t accept this andwill not take their children to health stations in wards and communes for avaccine.”
The PreventiveMedicine Centre is providing the two-in-one vaccine to children born from 2014to 2017, following the Ministry of Health’s national campaign on vaccination,which started in early January.
Staff at health centresand stations in districts, wards and communes are finding it difficult topersuade parents to get this two-in-one vaccine.
“Ninety-five percent ofmeasles patients have not been vaccinated,” Nga said.
The city reported 1,989cases of measles since early 2018, with the number of patients increasing inSeptember. Nearly 300 to 400 patients have been hospitalised each week sinceSeptember.
Of the 1,989 patients,many of them were children. Nearly 60 percent were under five years old.
“Children aged six to 10months had measles” because immunisation from the mother was low, Nga said.
She warned that womenshould get vaccinated against measles three months before becoming pregnant.
The Hospital forTropical Diseases has one of the highest numbers of patients with measles inthe city.
Since the beginning ofthis year, at least 27 percent of 645 in-patients with measles have sufferedcomplications and had to use mechanical ventilators.
Paediatrics Hospital No1 is treating 30 children with measles who are in serious condition.
Tran Dac Phu, Director ofthe Department of Preventive Medicine, said that measles could spreaduntil June if immunisation coverage was not increased.
Local authorities shouldwork with health staff to compile a list of children who are at the age to getvaccinated and encourage their parents to take them to local health stations orget the vaccine at their kindergartens, Phu said.
Dr Nguyen Tri Dung, headof the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said the city would continue thecampaign to raise immunisation coverage to more than 95 percent.
In February, the centrewill try to identify children who have not been vaccinated and persuade their parentsto accept vaccination, Dung said.
The centre also plans togive the vaccine to children under five years old who are being treated forother diseases at three paediatrics hospitals and the Hospital for TropicalDiseases, he added. The pilot programme will be expanded to other hospitalswith paediatrics departments in the city.
Although only 5 percentof children have not received vaccines in the city, the risk of transmissionexists.
Dr Phan Trong Lan, Directorof the HCM City Pasteur Institute, said the risk of spread from HCM City toother provinces during the Tet holiday is high because manypeople in the city will return to their hometowns.
Phu asked hospitals tocarry out preventive methods to reduce transmission to other patients.-VNS/VNA
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