The Children Hospital No. 1 reported 24 infants admitted for measles on January 20. This is the highest reported case in five years.
Before December 2012, the hospital has received no cases for the disease in five years, said Head of Infection and Brain section Dr. Truong Huu Khanh. Over 100 children have been hospitalized for treatment since then.
Patients suffer high fever, rash and pneumonia. Up to 80 percent of children infected live in Ho Chi Minh City.
Medical workers are worried about the spread of the disease and increased hospitalization.
Almost 65 children were admitted to Tropical Disease Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for the disease since December 2013. The average number children infected at Children Hospital No. 2 are five to ten a day.
The disease is transmitted through the respiratory system, said Dr. Khanh. Most patients affected by the disease have never been vaccinated. The doctor urges parents to vaccinate their children at nine-months-old while it is most effective.
