Vaccine gaps ′cause measles outbreaks′ in Europe according to : DW

The study said that during the January and February 2017, there were more than 1,500 cases of measles in 14 different European countries. A World Health Organization study in 2013 found that during a larger outbreak in neighboring Bulgaria, 90 percent of those who fell ill were Roma children. Two crucial factors could be vaccine skepticism as well as adults being ill-informed about how susceptible they are to the illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared April 24-30 as World Immunization Week, hoping to spread information about the importance of vaccinations to lowering the risk of disease globally. Measles is a highly contagious infection that causes extremely high fever, rash, and when not treated, it can be fatal for children.




Officials are still trying to track down the original source of the measles outbreak. The Hennepin County measles outbreak is now up to 12 cases as of Thursday afternoon — all of them in unvaccinated kids 5 years old or younger. The hospital has also prepared special "negative air flow" rooms that limit the airborne transmission of measles within the hospital. Fatuma Irsha, another volunteer Somali public health adviser, said some parents she talks to are scared of measles and keeping their kids home during the current outbreak. Only about 42 percent of Somali 2-year-olds in Minnesota are vaccinated compared to a rate of nearly 90 percent among other Minnesota kids.

Vaccine complacency warning as measles hits Europe

"Thanks to Maurice Hilleman's measles vaccine this highly contagious disease is now preventable. "Two doses of MMR vaccine (at 12 months and 4-5 years of age) are required to be fully vaccinated. "This serves as a reminder that ongoing efforts are required to reach and maintain high vaccine uptake levels. Dr Corcoran said the MMR vaccine was the only protection against measles and called on parents to ensure their children are vaccinated. Complacency on vaccines could lead to deaths here as a measles outbreak sweeps across Europe.


collected by :Lucy William

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