Children in the South are being hospitalized in droves due to measles.

Most children have serious underlying medical conditions.

After more than 4 days of fighting measles with her child, on the morning of August 12, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, mother of a 5-month-old patient from Long An province, had to transfer her child to the Kidney Department, Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City for treatment.

Ms. Nhung shared that her child had previously been diagnosed with kidney disease and needed treatment at the hospital's Nephrology Department. However, after two days of hospitalization, the child began to have symptoms such as high fever that did not go down, crying, and constant coughing. Doctors quickly diagnosed the child with measles and transferred him to the hospital's Infectious Diseases - Neurology Department for further treatment.

“The baby has a black rash all over his body, but fortunately today the doctor diagnosed him with measles, so he will return to the Kidney Department to continue treatment. Because he is only 5 months old and has had kidney disease since birth, he has not had time to get the measles vaccine, so the family is very worried,” Ms. Nhung shared.

Another case is a child with dengue fever who was discharged from the hospital 10 days ago. However, 6 days later, the 10-month-old child had a fever, cough, and runny nose. The family bought medicine for the child to take for 2 days, but after that, the child started to develop red rashes scattered all over his body, so the family quickly took him to the hospital.

According to the family, when the baby was 8 and 9 months old, he was constantly sick and did not have time to get vaccinated against measles. Currently, the baby's mother also has chickenpox, so the grandmother has to take care of the baby in her place.

The number of measles cases increases every day

According to Dr. Du Tuan Quy - Head of the Department of Infection - Neurology, Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, over the past week, the number of patients hospitalized for measles has increased dramatically.

On August 12 alone, the number of inpatients with measles was 50, most of whom were in serious condition. Many of them required oxygen and had underlying medical conditions such as asthma, congenital heart disease, nephrosis, and hematological diseases. These children often require long-term treatment, which is time-consuming and costly.

“A worrying fact is that the number of seriously ill children transferred from provincial hospitals is very large, accounting for 2/3 of inpatient cases. Measles is an infectious disease, easily spread, so when traveling such a long distance, the risk of new cases arising is very high. Meanwhile, the capacity to treat measles at lower-level hospitals and primary health care facilities is also fully met, so people should take care of and treat their children at medical facilities near their homes to avoid cross-infection,” said Dr. Quy.

Currently, measles vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the disease. However, sadly, measles cases mainly appear in children under 9 months old - children who have not had time to be vaccinated, children whose vaccination schedule has been forgotten, or cases where they have not been fully vaccinated, leading to the risk of measles attacking again.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, since the beginning of the year, Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 3 deaths due to measles. Meanwhile, from 2021 to 2023, the entire city has only had 1 case testing positive for measles. Currently, the entire city has recorded 48 wards and communes in 14 districts with confirmed measles cases; 8 districts have 2 or more wards and communes with cases.

According to statistics from the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, as of July 28, the entire southern region had reported 1,147 cases of rash fever suspected of measles, of which 481 tested positive (confirmed cases). The number of rash fever cases suspected of measles has increased 5.5 times compared to the same period in 2023.

Experts recommend that parents should proactively vaccinate their children fully. In particular, children with underlying medical conditions and children about to return to school need to be vaccinated to reduce the risk of disease.

Source: https://laodong.vn/suc-khoe/benh-nhi-phia-nam-nhap-vien-don-dap-vi-mac-benh-soi-1379679.ldo