Measles patients receive treatment at the National Institute of Tropical and Infectious ANG Diseases in Hanoi.

Hanoi is in dire need of vaccines as it deals with the worst outbreak of measles over the past decade, health officials have said.

It would take another two or three weeks before the shipment of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine arrives in Vietnam while demand for it has been soaring, the Hanoi health department said.

Around 340 people have been diagnosed with the virus over the past month, mostly adults from Hanoi or nearby Hoa Binh and Hung Yen Provinces.

The National Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases said the last severe measles outbreak had occurred more than 10 years ago but most of the patients then were teenagers.

At least 20 Hanoi districts have been affected by the disease so far, said Do Sy Hien, a member of the Steering Committee for the National Extended Vaccination Program.

But he said measles vaccination for adults would not be launched at the moment. The World Health Organization has warned mass inoculation should only be carried out when disease occurrence is confined to a particular area instead of being scattered, Hien explained.

Reported by Lien Chau