Vietnam Raises Red Flag on Risk of Diphtheria Spread from Laos

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has issued a warning about the risk of diphtheria outbreaks from Laos through the border into the country as a third of 17 Lao provinces have reported diphtheria infections from June to October. As of October 27, Laos posted 588 diphtheria cases in its population of 6.7 million people, of whom 11 had died. Children under the age of 15 accounted for 61% of the cases, while the other patients were mostly those not yet vaccinated against the disease. So far in 2015, Vietnam has recorded only a few cases of diphtheria in some communes in the remote district of K'Bang in the Central Highlands Gia Lai province and two hamlets of Phuoc Loc Commune, Phuoc Son district in the central Quang Nam province because people living in these areas had not been vaccinated. As diphtheria is extremely contagious through coughing or sneezing, Vietnam is concerned that the outbreaks can spread to the border region between the two countries. The ministry recommended that families get their children vaccinated against diphtheria with drugs such as Quinvaxem or DTP (Diphtheria - Pertussis - Tetanus) under the guidance of medical centers. In Vietnam, since the implementation of the national Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI), the rate of diphtheria infections has decreased dramatically. (VnExpress Nov 3, VOV Nov 4, moh.gov.vn Nov 2)