Drop in EU/EEA Measles Cases

In the EU/EEA, since March the number of measles cases has dropped steadily, which is of course a positive development.

Across seventeen countries in the EU/EEA, a total of 758 cases of measles were reported during the month of July which is a decrease from the 1054 cases reported during the month of June. //

"Since March, the number of measles cases in the EU/EEA has dropped steadily, which is of course a positive development" says Tarik Derrough, ECDC senior expert on vaccine-preventable diseases. "However, measles continues to spread across Europe because vaccination coverage in most European countries remains sub-optimal. Only four EU/EEA countries reported figures of at least 95% vaccination coverage, for both doses of measles-containing vaccine for 2017.

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Measles is a viral infection with symptoms of fever,and rashes. Measles is prevented by vaccination and staying away from the infected individuals.

‘If the goal of eliminating measles is to be reached, vaccination coverage for children and adults needs to increase in a number of countries.’

Looking at the situation over the past year (1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018), 14 118 cases of measles were reported across 30 EU/EEA Member States. The most cases were reported by Greece (3 224), Italy (2 873), France (2 794) and United Kingdom (1 724), accounting respectively for 23%, 20%, 20% and 12% of all cases reported by EU/EEA countries.

Of 14 117 cases with known age, 4 250 (30%) were children less than five years of age, while 6 115 (50%) were aged 15 years or older.

Source-Eurekalert

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