EU agency warns against rise in measles rate

An EU agency has voiced concern about a "worrying" upsurge in cases of measles across Europe.

The European centre for disease prevention and control (ECDC) says "millions" of Europeans are unprotected against measles.

An spokesperson for the centre said, "ECDC would like to raise awareness of the ongoing measles outbreaks in several European countries.

"We want to use this as an opportunity to reiterate the importance of measles vaccination, which is the best available measure for preventing infection.

"Full protection is obtained by two consecutive doses of measles-containing vaccine."

Unvaccinated people, or people who have never had measles, can protect themselves by vaccination, advises the Stockholm-based organisation.

In 2007, several European countries experienced high numbers of measles cases, including Switzerland, the UK and Romania.

So far in 2008, over 1,300 measles cases have been reported in Switzerland, the UK, France, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Spain and Norway.

The EU alert system for communicable diseases guarantees that information on these outbreaks is shared between member states, the commission, the ECDC and the World health organization.

In Europe, the centre says that "very few" countries have reached the target of 95 per cent measles vaccination coverage, which is necessary to prevent outbreaks and eliminate the disease.

"This has resulted in a significant proportion of the European population remaining at risk for acquiring measles," said the spokesperson.

Exposure to the virus may come from travellers who have visited outbreak-affected or endemic areas, as has been reported in the US.

The agency says that in the light of the WHO goal to eliminate measles in Europe by 2010, the current outbreaks are "worrying".

Improving measles vaccination coverage is essential to containing and preventing further such outbreaks, said the spokesperson.

• Previous article
• Next article