Ha Noi, 25 April 2014 - Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy
watches over her two year old son as he takes quick, short breaths in a
quarantined intensive care unit (ICU) at Hanoi's National Paediatric
Hospital. Like the 40 other children in the unit, Thuy's son has a
severe measles infection.
Since the beginning of 2014, Viet Nam has reported more than 3,500
confirmed measles infections. More than 86% of those infected have not
been immunized or their vaccination status is unknown.
In Hanoi, the National Paediatric Hospital has treated more than
1,280 measles patients and over 100 children have died from measles
related complications. Among those who died, half of the children were
less than nine months old.
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Many children who come for treatment at the National Paediatric Hospital have underlying health conditions such as congenital heart disease, metabolic disorder and congenital anomalies. Photo: UN Viet Nam\2014\Truong Viet Hung |