According to the Ministry of Health , at present, the whole country is entering the new school year, students of all levels are returning to school; there is a risk of contracting infectious diseases, especially some infectious diseases such as measles, whooping cough, hand, foot and mouth disease and some diseases transmitted through the respiratory tract.
Sharing about this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dac Phu - former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health said: The health sector needs to prepare enough vaccines in the expanded immunization program to vaccinate children on schedule. It is necessary to vaccinate and make up for children who have missed or missed doses.
Measles has been controlled by vaccines, but recently due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, many children have not been vaccinated, because of a lack of vaccines in the expanded immunization program, so many children do not have immunity.
Measles has a 4-5 year cycle of a major outbreak. Although the measles vaccination rate is high (90-95%), there are still 5-10% of children who are not vaccinated. Accumulating 5 years, 50% of children born in 1 year are at risk of measles and thus the absolute number of cases is very high because measles is very contagious, it can be said that anyone who has not been vaccinated and comes into contact with a measles patient can be infected.
2014 and 2019 were two strong measles outbreak cycles, especially in 2014, more than 100 children died from this disease.
In 2024, according to the 5-year cycle, there may be an outbreak. To prevent the disease, in addition to the group vaccinated on schedule (1st dose at 9 months old and booster dose at 18 months old), the health sector needs to have a plan to organize catch-up vaccinations for children who have not been vaccinated, paying special attention to the vaccination depressions.
Regarding the cause of some infectious diseases, according to Mr. Phu, part of the reason is due to the "gap" in vaccination, reduced community immunity, and increased epidemics.
The health sector needs to promote awareness among people about disease prevention measures, and each disease has a formula to prevent it.
In addition, it is necessary to have a plan to fully vaccinate the basic doses and comply with booster shots. Due to the lack of vaccines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to vaccinate now and in the future.
Regarding the fact that many children have received all the vaccinations but can still get sick, according to Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, it is quite normal because the vaccine is effective to a certain extent.
The reason for this is that the vaccine is only 90% effective at best, leaving 10% at risk of infection, not to mention that some vaccines are only 70-80% effective. However, people who have been vaccinated will have a milder illness when they get sick.
In particular, with vaccines that require booster shots, people need to remember the schedule to get enough shots and doses. In addition, local health authorities need to review the list of children who have not been vaccinated or have not had enough shots, and encourage parents to take their children for catch-up vaccinations to minimize vaccination "gaps".
The Ministry of Health has just launched activities in response to " World Immunization Week 2024" with the theme "Joining hands to vaccinate against diseases for a healthy Vietnam" and launched a measles vaccination campaign.
Source: https://laodong.vn/y-te/bu-lap-khoang-trong-tiem-chung-1384314.ldo
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