Many children get measles because parents 'forget' to vaccinate their children

At the seminar “Measles: Small injection - Big protection”, according to the report of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, as of June 18, Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 25 cases of measles, with the majority of cases being children who have not been vaccinated against the disease.

Most children with measles have not received enough doses of vaccine.

At the seminar, Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, Head of the Social Work Department, Children's Hospital 1, said that if measles breaks out into an epidemic, it will be strongest in the risk group (children who are not old enough to be vaccinated and children who have not received 2 doses of vaccine). According to Dr. Khanh, if it breaks out into an epidemic, the health sector will have difficulty fighting it because in addition to measles, this is also the season for dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease.

Children with measles

TN

MSc. Dr. Le Thi Hong Nga, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, said that to prevent the epidemic, the most important factor is that children must be vaccinated. The ability to spread measles is very high, if in a nursery there is a child with the disease, children who have not received 2 doses of measles vaccine will be infected. Of the 25 cases of measles to date, 8 cases are not old enough to be vaccinated and 14 children have not received any doses.

Regarding the vaccination rate in Ho Chi Minh City that has not reached 95%, according to Master, Doctor Le Thi Hong Nga, the problem here is that parents and relatives forget to take their children for vaccination, leading to disadvantages for the children.

"We should take some time to vaccinate children. Not only measles, but when we checked the children's vaccination records, many other vaccines were missing, such as whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus. These are all very dangerous diseases. Most children who have not been vaccinated are because their parents forgot, made up excuses, or moved but did not report to the local authorities or health authorities, so they were not invited to get vaccinated," said the Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control.  

Similarly, according to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, some parents who forget to vaccinate their children against measles have lost their children's rights. Children are born with the right to be protected from disease in many different ways, including through vaccination.

“Children cannot speak or raise their hands to ask for vaccinations. It is entirely up to the parents. If parents forget for some reason, they are not responsible for their children,” Dr. Truong Huu Khanh shared.

Education sector coordinates to control epidemics

MSc. Dr. Le Thi Hong Nga, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, said that at the ward and commune level, there are still some localities where up to 1/3 of children have not been vaccinated. When investigating the reason, medical staff said that many families invited them to get vaccinated but they said they were busy or gave other reasons to avoid it.

In addition, through a survey of the risk of an outbreak in some localities, it was found that 10-40% of children were not on the management list of the health station. Because the parents moved there without reporting to the locality, the health station did not know and did not invite them, leading to many children not being vaccinated.

Currently, vaccines are fully available. If families do not want to use vaccines in the expanded immunization program, they can choose service vaccines. According to Ms. Nga, the important factor is the interest of parents in taking their children to get vaccinated.

Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is directing the implementation of supplementary and catch-up vaccinations for children. At the same time, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is planning to approach kindergartens and ask parents to submit their vaccination records to teachers to know whether their children have been vaccinated or not.

Through nurseries and childcare groups, in coordination with the local education sector, investigate the vaccination history of children in school. Children who are missing vaccinations will be encouraged to receive catch-up and catch-up vaccinations.

As for children in immigrant areas and boarding houses, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health will mobilize community health collaborators to approach families.  

“If you meet community health workers in your residential areas, don’t hesitate. Share your children’s vaccination schedule with them and they will advise and guide you to go to the health station for vaccination,” said the Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control.

In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control also propagates through the health station's communication network to provide full vaccination information to each residential area. So that people know and bring their children to the station for consultation and full vaccination.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tphcm-nhieu-tre-mac-soi-do-cha-me-quen-dua-con-di-tiem-vac-xin-1852406241731143.htm