Warning of more Rubella outbreak in S. Vietnam

Around 1,600 workers at the WANEK Woodcraft Co., Ltd. in Vietnam's southern Binh Duong province had been given free rubella vaccines following an outbreak of the disease at the company that started early this month, local Vietnam News daily reported Thursday.

Vaccinations were given to workers by the Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City Pasteur Institute and the local Department of Health at the My Phuoc Industrial Park in an effort to control the outbreak. There have been 151 suspected cases reported so far.

The first case was a 21-year-old female worker detected on Jan. 2, who showed symptoms of rubella, including a light fever, coughing and rashes. Within a month, more than 100 workers were showing similar symptoms, including two pregnant women, reported Binh Duong province's Department of Health.

Test results from 20 of the 29 samples taken proved positive for rubella, according to the HCM City Pasteur Institute, adding that most of the victims contracted the disease at the shared residential complex for My Phuoc Industrial Park's workers.

The large number of workers at the industrial park means there is a high chance of the outbreak spreading to other companies or even to other industrial parks in the region," said the institute' s director Phan Trong Lan, who added that vaccinations had so far only been prescribed to 3 percent of workers, leaving the company' s 600 female workers at risk.

Rubella is especially dangerous for women pregnant for less than 10 weeks as more than 90 percent of newborns will likely suffer complications. Rubella during early pregnancy might result in miscarriage, foetal death or congenital defects, said the doctor. Endi