A young child being vaccinated against measles at the Ward 6 Medical Station in HCM City’s District 8. - VNA Photo

HCM CITY – Healthcare workers in HCM City gave measles vaccines to nearly 17,000 children aged between one and five years during the National Day holidays (August 31 – September 2).

According to HCM City Centre for Disease Control, the vaccinations strictly followed Ministry of Health guidelines, and grassroots medical centres widely propagated the importance of the shots in preventing measles outbreaks.

The city expects to immunise a further 6,800 kids on September 4.

Tăng Chí Thượng, director of the department, commended health and other authorities for persuading parents to get their children vaccinated and for their outstanding work at the vaccination sites.

“HCM City’s measles vaccination campaign promises to achieve the goal of fully vaccinating children in the city.”

A woman getting her son an MR (measles-rubella) vaccine shot at the Tân Tạo A Ward health station in HCM City’s Bình Tân District on August 31. – Photo by hcdc.vn

​​Most measles patients are children

There have been 432 cases of measles in the last three months, 75 per cent of them being children aged under five and 71 per cent being unvaccinated, statistics from the HCM City Centre for Disease Control show.

Between 2021 to 2023 only one person had been reported with the disease, and none this year until May 22.

Following the sudden spurt, the HCM City administration declared a citywide outbreak on August 27.

It also launched a measles vaccination campaign for children, regardless of their previous vaccination status, divided into two phases.

Phase one will run from August 31 to September 30, targeting children aged one to five, healthcare workers and caregivers.

In addition, children aged 1-16 are currently receiving treatment at medical facilities in the city.

Phase two from October 1 to 31 will target children aged six to 10 and those who that were missed in phase one.

According to the HCDC, the vaccine used in the campaign is the MR measles-rubella vaccine made by the Ministry of Health’s Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can spread rapidly following an incubation period of seven to 21 days.

Medical experts caution that it can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, otitis media, keratitis, diarrhoea, and even death in some cases.

Measles can only be effectively managed when the community immunity rate reaches 95 per cent, and each individual has received two doses of the vaccine. — VNS