Hanoi (VNA) -  DeputyMinister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long on March 6 sent an urgentofficial dispatch asking local authorities to step up preventive measuresagainst whooping cough.

The move comes amid a rising numberof affected children.

Since the beginning of this year,the Hanoi-based Vietnam National Hospital of Paediatrics has treated more than50 children suffering from whooping cough, four of whom have died.

According to the hospital, most ofthe children were less than three months old, were not vaccinated against thedisease, or vaccinated with inefficient doses, or whose mothers were notvaccinated and thus had no antibodies to pass on to the children.

Many children were hospitalised withserious pneumonia symptoms and had to be put on a respirator. Some cases wererequired to undergo hemodialysis due to their critical condition.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) hasasked local authorities to recheck the list of children eligible for thenational expanded programme on immunisation to ensure that at least 95 percentat ward level are vaccinated.

The ministry has also asked localauthorities to vaccinate children whose vaccinations were delayed and intensifythe awareness-raising campaign for locals, urging them to get their childrenvaccinated at the right time and with full doses.

Currently, there are two types ofvaccines against the disease -- DTP and Quinvaxem. The first dose should beinjected when a child is two months old, the second dose one monthlater and the third dose two months later.

Whooping cough, orpertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. It is dangerous in infants, especially thoseless than six months.

According to doctors, if an infantless than one month suffers from the disease, the rate of fatality can be ashigh as 90 percent. – VNA