Measles Outbreak Looms as Europeans Avoid Shots, Agency Says

Published by: anonym 2009-01-07

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ap_nVTy8FXcU&refer=europe

Measles Outbreak Looms as Europeans Avoid Shots, Agency Says

By Frances Schwartzkopff

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Europeans should get vaccinated against measles to prevent a more widespread outbreak as cases of the disease continue to rise, a European disease-monitoring agency said.

More than 1,300 patients have been diagnosed with measles this year in countries including the U.K., Germany, France and Switzerland, the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said yesterday on its Web site.

Few European countries have inoculated 95 percent of their population, the threshold needed to prevent outbreaks and eliminate the disease, ECDC said. The disease may be spreading because of parents' and religious groups' decision not to get shots and because of the difficulty of reaching nomadic populations. An outbreak in Austria may threaten the European Championship soccer tournament in June if it's not contained, the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten reported last week.

``Europe may be about to experience a serious situation,'' ECDC said. ``Millions of Europeans are unprotected against measles, a viral infection that can cause serious disease with severe complications including death.''

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There were 3,322 cases of measles last year, according to preliminary data collected by European authorities. The figure will be updated next week and is likely to be ``closer to 4,000,'' Ben Duncan, a spokesman for ECDC, said in a telephone interview.

England and Wales had 971 measles cases last year, the highest number since health authorities began monitoring in 1995, the U.K.'s Health Protection Agency reported this month. In one London neighborhood where the virus has spread, only 48 percent of 5-year-old children received the second booster shot of the vaccine in 2006 and 2007.

Highly Contagious

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that causes flu-like symptoms and a skin rash covering the entire body. The virus spreads as patients sneeze and cough, and 90 percent of those in close contact with those infected are likely to get it if not vaccinated, the Mayo Clinic, a U.S. health-care provider, says on its Web site.

Measles is the leading cause of deaths among children that could have been prevented through vaccination, according to EU.VAC, a European Union-sponsored vaccine network. More than one million children die from the disease each year, mostly in developing countries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frances Schwartzkopff in Copenhagen at fschwartzkop@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 11, 2008 06:45 EDT

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Upsurge in measles across Europe - EU
April 11 2008 at 04:15PM

Stockholm - Several European countries, with Switzerland topping the list, have recently seen a disturbing increase in measles cases, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Friday.

"This is very concerning ... particularly in light of the WHO (World Health Organisation) aim to rid Europe of measles by 2010 ... We're moving in the wrong direction," said Ben Duncan, a spokesperson for the Stockholm-based EU agency.

Measles, also called rubeola, is a highly contagious disease characterised by high fever and the eruption of small red spots that kills about one person for every 1 000 infections.

Several European countries saw a hike in measles cases in 2007, and the numbers have grown further so far in 2008, according to European Union numbers.

During the first three months in 2007, just under 800 measles infections were reported across the continent. That number climbed to more than 1 300 in the first quarter in 2008, Duncan said.

"There is a significant number of Europeans who have not vaccinated against it ... In some parts of Europe, less than 80 percent of kids are being vaccinated against the disease," he said, explaining the increase.

ECDC said very few countries in Europe had reached the 95 percent measles vaccination target necessary to prevent outbreaks and eliminate the disease.

Duncan said countries in Europe's Alpine region, led by Switzerland, were home to especially strong anti-vaccination movements.

In 2007, Switzerland registered 14 measles cases per 100 000 inhabitants, placing it far ahead of other countries with outbreaks like Britain and Romania, which each registered 1.6 cases per 100 000 people.

Measles cases have also been seen in France, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Spain and Norway, the ECDC said, referring to unpublished EU data.

"We want to encourage people to get vaccinated ... to make sure their children are vaccinated and for young adults who were not vaccinated when they were kids to do so now," Duncan said.

He said no measles deaths had been registered in Europe so far in 2008, but that a baby had died from the disease in Israel in the past month.

"People in countries where there has not been an outbreak can still be exposed" due to travel to and from areas where outbreaks exist, Duncan said.

The ECDC fears that this year's UEFA European Football Championship, to be held in two outbreak countries: Switzerland and Austria, "holds the potential for magnifying the danger," he added.