On September 25, the VNVC Vaccination System and Switzerland's Substipharm Biologics deployed the hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) vaccine at nearly 300 VNVC vaccination centers across the country.
This marks the first time the vaccine is available in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Extensively researched in Vietnam and many other countries, clinical data demonstrates its high efficacy against common HFMD virus strains, particularly the dangerous EV71 strain.
According to VNVC statistics, right on the first day of rolling out the EV71 vaccine in Vietnam, many families in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho, and other localities brought their children to be vaccinated. Tens of thousands of registrations were recorded across nearly 300 VNVC centers nationwide. Among these, children under three years old, a high-risk group for infection and severe progression, accounted for about 70 percent, indicating an immense demand for early protection against EV71.
According to Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, HFMD is caused by several different virus strains. Over dozens of years, scientists have put painstaking efforts into research without success due to low protective efficacy against viruses, especially the EV71 strain. Therefore, having proven superior protective efficacy against EV71, this vaccine is considered the most effective "weapon" to safeguard children against this dangerous disease.
The vaccine is indicated for children from two months to under six years of age, with a dosing schedule of two to three shots depending on the age at the start of vaccination. Notably, the vaccine underwent phase III clinical trials in Vietnam, demonstrating strong protection against EV71—the main agent linked to most severe cases and deaths from this dangerous disease, which currently has no specific targeted treatment.
According to published data, the vaccine achieved a protective efficacy of 96.8 percent against HFMD caused by EV71, with no recorded cases of EV71 infection among the vaccinated group, while simultaneously generating high immune response against multiple sub-lineages of the EV71 group.
The EV71 vaccine has been administered to children in Taiwan, with over 600,000 doses used from August 2023 to September 2026. Since the vaccine's introduction, the Taiwan CDC has not recorded EV71 among severe HFMD cases during the 2024–2026 period, whereas the virus previously accounted for a significant proportion of HFMD cases with severe complications.
HFMD is a highly dangerous infectious disease common in young children, especially those under three years old, and has previously erupted into major outbreaks in Vietnam. Among the causes, EV71 is the agent that causes severe illness, neurological, respiratory, and cardiovascular complications, and even death. In 2023 alone, Vietnam recorded more than 181,000 cases and 31 deaths; the EV71 strain accounted for 82 percent of hospitalizations and 90.4 percent of severe cases.
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Infectious Disease Association, a leading expert in pediatric infectious diseases who previously participated in compiling HFMD treatment guidelines for the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that the EV71 vaccine is a solution pediatric specialists have anticipated for many years, following numerous outbreaks that caused children to be hospitalized, progress to severe stages, and suffer dangerous complications.
"For many years, numerous parents have asked me when an HFMD vaccine would be available. Every disease season, parents worry, and doctors are also under pressure because some children appear fully conscious initially, but progress to severe conditions just hours later, requiring substantial human resources, medications, and resuscitation equipment. During large outbreaks, the rapid rise in hospitalized children places even greater pressure on the treatment system. Therefore, I am extremely glad that Vietnam now has an EV71 vaccine for children," Dr. Khanh shared.
Hand, foot and mouth disease causes losses of more than VND2 trillion annually
According to a study on the economic burden of hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam conducted by experts from Children's Hospital 1, Children's Hospital 2, and the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases in collaboration with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), published in the international medical journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases (United States) in 2019, the total direct and indirect economic losses caused by the disease in Vietnam reach more than US$90.7 million each year, equivalent to more than VND2 trillion.
