On April 28, the Municipal Department of Health announced that during the past week, from April 19 to April 25, the city recorded 63 new measles cases, a 43.9 percent decrease compared to the average of the previous four weeks with 112 cases. Among these, 36 cases were hospitalized, a 40.5 percent decrease and 27 were outpatients, a 47.8 percent decrease.
As for distribution of measles cases by age group, the lowest rate of 7.1 percent among the age groups was found in under 6 month-old babies, with 673 cases; while the highest cases rate of 17.9 percent was detected in adults aged 18 and older, with 1,695 cases.
Regarding vaccination history, among the recorded cases, 1,698 cases were in children under nine months old, accounting for 18 percent, not yet eligible for vaccination under the National Expanded Immunization Program.
Among 7,754 recorded cases being eligible for vaccination, 2,937 cases had not been vaccinated, 3,386 cases had unknown vaccination history, 732 cases had received one dose of the measles vaccine, and 699 cases had received two doses of the measles vaccine.
According to data from four major hospitals in the city, reported by the Infectious Disease Surveillance Management System, Ho Chi Minh City received 53 measles cases from other provinces in the past week, a 56.2 percent decrease compared to the average of the previous four weeks with 121 cases.
As of the end of last week, 13,804 measles cases from other provinces have been treated in Ho Chi Minh City, accounting for 59.4 percent of the total measles cases in the city. That added a source of out-of-city transmission and created significant challenges for the health sector in comprehensively controlling the disease outbreak.
In response to the situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has instructed the People's Committees of districts and Thu Duc City to continue to monitor and detect new measles cases, and isolate individuals with symptoms of upper respiratory tract inflammation.
Additionally, local authorities are urged to propose that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health submitted to the Municipal People’s Committee the procedures for declaring the end of the measles outbreak in wards, communes and townships that meet the necessary conditions according to the Department of Health’s guidelines on procedures for declaring the end of group B and group C infectious disease outbreaks in Ho Chi Minh City.
