Ho Chi Minh City residents have hurriedly taken their kids to the HCMC Pasteur Institute and the local Preventive Health Center for vaccination against measles over the past few days, as the disease has spread across the country and killed 119 children.  

>> Vietnam’s capital offers free measles vaccination to kids aged 6 or under >> Parents rush to get babies vaccinated for measles >> Occupying 50% of measles mortality, Vietnam’s capital yet to declare epidemic >> Over 7,000 children catch measles in Vietnam; at least 111 die: report A 23-member extended family even came to the Pasteur Institute yesterday to get them all vaccinated against measles for fear of its danger, as over 7,000 kids have caught the illness since it recurred in Vietnam late last year, according to the Ministry of Health. At 7:00 am on Monday, the vaccination area at the institute was crowded with numerous parents who brought their children to be vaccinated against measles. Within the next two hours, Tuoi Tre reporters saw about 120 children get vaccinated. The number of children receiving measles vaccinations at the institute has increased remarkably, according to the institution’s statistics. Specifically, there were 120 children vaccinated on April 11, and the figure rose to 450 on April 18, and to more than 600 a day later. On April 20, the institute opened only in the morning, but it gave vaccinations to as many as 350 children. Meanwhile, in late 2013, the institute vaccinated only 1,000-1,500 children per month, said Dr. Cao Huu Nghia, head of its Clinical Biological Department. Recently, people in HCMC and its neighboring localities, including Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Tay Ninh Provinces, have taken their children to the institute for vaccination against measles.          In a notable case, a three-generation family of 23 members, including grandparents, parents and children from Dong Nai’s Thong Nhat District, arrived at the institute on Monday morning to have vaccination for all of them. T.T.D., 53, a member, said the great family had agreed to go to the institute after hearing of the news that measles has widely spread and claimed the lives of many children nationwide. Besides the institute, the HCMC Preventive Health Center is also a destination for parents who want their children – or even themselves – to be vaccinated for measles. At 9:00 am on Monday, Tuoi Tre reporters witnessed a lot of adults and children waiting for vaccination at the center.

Only about an hour later, 28 children and three adults were given measles vaccine injections. Dr. Nghia, the biological department head, said that free-of-charge and paid vaccination against measles is available not only in the city but also in many other localities now. Therefore, health officials and local media should keep the public informed of this so that they will not have to flock to HCMC for it.  In a related development, the Hanoi Preventive Health Center on Sunday opened a free-of-charge measles vaccination point for children, aged six and under, in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease. This is a precautionary effort given the danger of the contagion, as Vietnamese health officials now instruct that only children aged between nine and 24 months be vaccinated against the ailment.

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