The deadly ailments such as measles, flu, whooping cough, ancephalitis, diarrhea and Streptococcus suis.
One of the diseases which have increasing number of patients is measles, said Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine Dr. Tran Dac Phu.
Since the beginning of the year, the country reported 229 cases of measles, he added.
Worse, during past two months, the number of measles infections in the North esepcially in Hanoi increased by 4-5 cases a week averagely.
Moreover, 2-3 percent of kids have not been vaccinated against the disease.
Director of the Hanoi Department of Preventive Medicine Dr. Nguyen Nhat Cam said over 1,740 cases of measles in Hanoi in 2014 including 14 deaths, hitting the record at the time. The ailment was under total control in 2015 and 2016 with 42 infection cases and no death. However, this year around 168 cases of measles were reported in Hanoi so far.
Moreover, it is escalating in recent weeks. One eight-month-old infant in Hanoi's Dan Phuong District succumbed to it. Though vaccination rate in Hanoi is 95 percent, statistically in recent five years, over 32,630 kids had not been injected measles vaccine; therefore, the risk of measles outbreaks is predicted very high.
The National Children Hospital's Infectiuos Disease Department has set up a seperate section to receive measles children.
Hospital Deputy Director Dr. Tran Minh Dien said in the beginning of the year, the hospital admited 2,3 measles kids per month but in three recent months, the hospital admited 20-25 kids a month. Most of inpatients are below one year kids who were hospitalized while they suffered high fever, rash and infection.
Noticeably, though measles is not the serious illness, it causes serious complications such as pneumonia, glue ear, diarrhea, even encephalitis leading to death.
Accordingly, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long ordered Hanoi and localities with low vaccination rate to adopt measures of vaccine injection for people. He streesed that the health sector and the education sector need to increase information of vaccine benefit to parents as well as implement preventative measures in schools and review students' imminization record to ensure that they have been inoculated.
Dr. Tran Dac Phu also warned of other infectious ailments namely flu, whooping cough, encephalitis, hand-foot-mouth, diarhea will break out in the winter-spring season unpredictably.
