The city recorded more than 44,000 cases from the beginning of the year, up over 65% year-on-year, along with five deaths and more than 1,600 outbreaks, according to the municipal Department of Health.
The third trial of the vaccine against hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) caused by the Non-Mouse-Adapted Enterovirus 71 (EV71) strain has been completed and is waiting for the Ministry of Health's approval, said Vice Director of Clinical Research Unit of Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh city Nguyen Trong Toan.
Many new kinds of vaccines will be included in the national expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) in the coming time, said Dr. Dang Thanh Huyen, deputy head of the EPI Office under the Ministry of Health, on July 10.
Vaccinations must take place safely and effectively, particularly in remote disadvantaged areas where vaccination coverage remained modest, Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen said on September 21.
The Ministry of Health has ordered preventive medicine units and facilities across the nation to strengthen hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) prevention in response to the increase in the number of cases in major cities across the nation.
The capital city of Hanoi recorded additional 232 dengue fever cases from July 22-28, up 63 cases from the previous week, reported the municipal Health Department on July 29.
Disease prevention and control is the main duty of the health sector this year, thus the sector will actively conduct preventive measures and provide vaccinations in high-risk areas.
The number of dengue fever cases in Ho Chi Minh City in the first seven weeks of 2019 surged by nearly 250 percent over the same period last year, reported the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has asked hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City to detect, classify and isolate patients with measles, dengue fever or hand-foot-mouth (HFM) disease to avoid cross-contamination.
The Ministry of Health has called on authorities and hospitals in the south to strengthen preventive measures to control the spread of measles and hand-foot-mouth disease.
The HCM City Department of Education and Training has instructed managers of schools to take preventive measures against the spread of contagious disease among students.
Hospitals in the southern region have admitted many patients diagnosed with hand-foot-mouth disease, measles or upper respiratory infections as the peak season for contagious diseases has arrived.
Students face several diseases at the beginning of the new school year, such as dengue fever, hand-foot-mouth disease, measles and flu, so epidemic prevention efforts should be strengthened, health experts warned.
Ho Chi Minh City has seen a downward trend in dengue-fever disease, but a surge in hand-foot-mouth disease since August, particularly in the new school year.
The Ministry of Health has issued a warning that the current season, when students gather for the new school year, is the time when the number of hand-foot-mouth disease cases among children is on the rise.
The Department of Preventive Medicine has instructed health officials in provinces and cities nationwide to cooperate with education departments to strengthen cleanliness at schools to prevent outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease and dengue fever.
Ho Chi Minh City needs to monitor infectious diseases and take measures to prevent cross-infections, avoiding a large-scale outbreak, a health official has said.
The Preventive Medicine Department in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has established and trained working groups to deal with dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth disease across localities since the beginning of 2017.
