At a June 4 workshop on epidemic prevention in Haiphong City, Director of the Preventive Medicine Department (PMD) Tran Dac Phu reported that measles is essentially under control as the number of fatalities and new infections continues to decline.

However, he said there remains a considerable threat of epidemics breaking out for a number of highly contagious diseases.

The heat and humidity of the summer months create ideal conditions for many communicable diseases to gestate, such as hand-foot-mouth disease (HFM) and dengue fever. In addition, factors such as the increased travel in and out of country and bad environmental sanitation increase the likelihood of epidemics.

It warned that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the disease. In summer, the healthcare sector continues to promptly monitor, detect and deal with outbreaks, as well as disseminating preventive measures to the public.

The workshop updated participants on the latest information about preventive measures against dengue fever, measles, HFM, flu, varicella, rabies and MERS-CoV.