Home »

Health Ministry denies hiding measles epidemic

Friday, April 18, 2014
Responding to the rumor that authorities are suppressing information about the outbreak of measles in Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has insisted that there have been only 25 deaths due to measles so far this year, and that the agency has not hid information about the epidemic.


Previously, the Ministry of Health's Preventive Health Agency reported that 2,492 children have contracted measles since the beginning of the year. Of that number, 25 have died.
Many mothers took to the internet to complain about the press's handling of the news about outbreaks of measles. In the last few weeks, they have posted their gripes on their Facebook pages and on websites such as www.webtretho.com and www.zeronews.us, among others. Some even claimed that the Ministry of Health's published number of fatalities caused by the disease was incomplete.
Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Preventive Health Agency, said on April 10 that of the 103 deaths recorded at the National Pediatric Hospital in Hanoi, 25 were caused solely by measles. The remaining 78 cases were caused by measles in combination with other diseases such as pneumonia, respiratory infections, heart disease and malnutrition. In addition, the Bach Mai Hospital also reported four deaths and the Tropical Diseases Hospital reported one death from measles.
"The number of cases of measles in the country this year is lower than that in the measles outbreaks in 2009-2010 but the fatality rate and the number of critical cases are higher. The figure of 25 deaths announced by the Ministry of Health is reasonable," Dr. Phu said.
Affirming that the Health Ministry did not hide the measles epidemic, Dr. Phu said: "Research works show that measles viruses don’t change genes and virulence. Announcing the data must be very scientific and precise to avoid confusion for people. The Ministry of Health is studying the viruses, clinical features and epidemiology of the disease to have the most accurate conclusions."
The Minister of Health has assigned the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi and the HCM City Pasteur Institute to cooperate with other hospitals to conduct these research efforts and to determine why the fatalities from this measles outbreak have occurred only in the north.
Dr. Phu also said that previously, measles patients were primarily treated at home and they only went to the hospital when they suffered complications. At present, all big hospitals in Hanoi, like the Central Pediatrics Hospital, the Pediatrics Ward of Bach Mai Hospital and the Saint Paul Hospital, are overloaded with measles patients. The hospitals in neighboring provinces, by contrast, each have only a few or no measles patients.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked the health sector to ensure sufficient medicine and equipment for the treatment of measles patients. “We must ensure the best conditions for treating child patients at any cost,” the Deputy PM said during his inspection of the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi on April 15.
According to the hospital, it now provides inpatient treatment for 1,750 children, including 250 measles patients. The hospital has dedicated several departments to providing the best treatment for them.
Deputy PM Dam also asked the Ministry of Health to organize satellite hospitals and provide them with personnel and equipment to ease the overcrowding at the children’s hospital, while strictly carrying out vaccination work.
At a meeting in Hanoi on Wednesday to review the outbreak, Director of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases Nguyen Van Kinh said that the nation has to date recorded over 7,000 cases of measles this year, one third of which is in Hanoi.
The disease erupted in 61 out of 63 cities and provinces in the first quarter of this year. The number of fatalities from measles complications has amounted to 108, including 25 deaths directly attributable to the disease.
At the meeting, which was also attended by experts from the World Health Organisation, Minister of Public Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the disease is also plaguing the Philippines, China and Japan. In Vietnam, the rate of infections is lower than the 2009 – 2010 level but the fatalities are higher, especially in Hanoi. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City has seen fewer cases without any deaths, Tien said. She attributed the high fatalities in Hanoi to the fact that most serious cases are transferred to the city, particularly the National Hospital of Pediatrics.
Experts stressed the need to ease the overload in the National Hospital of Pediatrics, which they said causes more infections.
The health minister affirmed the ministry will provide hospitals nationwide with more respirators and antibiotics.
At the same time, she made it clear that vaccination for children is the essential and long-term measure to counter the disease.
Vietnam is in the stage of curbing measles and expects to eliminate the disease by 2017.  
The same day Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung sent an important telegram urging ministries, agencies and localities to take tough new measures to prevent the spread of measles and minimise fatalities.
He called for sufficient supply of vaccines, drugs and medical equipment to save measles patients and control the spread of the disease.
He requested leaders of provinces and centrally-run cities to coordinate closely with the Health Ministry to take necessary quarantine measures, give measles vaccination to high-risk groups, and grant financial assistance to patients in need.
PM Dung also directed the Ministry of Information and Communications and media agencies to update information on measles and raise public awareness of the potential danger of the disease.
The hospital said overcrowding takes place because parents want their children to receive treatment at the highest-level medical establishments.
Measles is a cyclical disease, Phu noted, adding that this year measles is spreading at a time when pneumonia hospitalizations are also on the rise, causing a high number of serious infections.
A program of vaccination against measles is being carried out in all 63 provinces and cities and is expected to be completed within this month, Phu said.
The ministry is continuing to monitor developments of the disease to provide timely information for people and introduce preventive measures, in the hope of keeping the disease under control nationwide, he added.
Vietnam aims to have eliminated the disease by 2017.
Tags: ,

Comments[ 0 ]


Post a Comment