Significant Increase in Measles in Europe
High fever, frequent coughing, sore throat, and red or inflamed eyes: these are symptoms of measles. An infectious disease that is generally rare in the Netherlands. You can be vaccinated against measles in our country. Yet, the disease is gaining ground again in Europe.
The danger of measles
Measles – a disease caused by a virus – can be very dangerous. If you become infected with the virus, you experience symptoms such as fever, frequent coughing, a sore throat, and inflamed eyes. After 3 to 7 days, you develop spots on the skin that feel rough. You can become very ill from measles, and in the worst case, it can be fatal. It is especially dangerous for babies under 1 year and pregnant women if they become infected with the virus. A few years ago, a girl from Zeeland did not survive the disease. Although the mortality rates in the Netherlands are low, 35 people in Europe did not survive the disease last year.
Increase in the number of infections
The number of measles infections in Europe increased by as much as 400% to 21,000 patients last year. These figures have been released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The disease has experienced significant growth. According to the World Health Organization, this is concerning, especially since you can be protected against measles in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, most children are vaccinated against measles. The MMR vaccination (against mumps, measles, and rubella) was included in the national vaccination program in 1976. Children receive a vaccination when they are 14 months and 9 years old. The chance that vaccinated children still contract measles is very small. Often, if they do become infected with the virus, they are less ill.
Why this increase in measles?
Some parents choose – for example, due to religious beliefs – not to vaccinate their children. According to the WHO, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and the Dutch RIVM, some organizations try to scare people away from the vaccine with unproven claims. Parents are also concerned about the side effects and what exactly is in the vaccines. According to the RIVM, this is because there is all sorts of "non-information" online, but also because the diseases being vaccinated against are increasingly out of sight. Hans van Vliet, program manager of the National Vaccination Program, indicated last summer that the cause of the decline in the number of vaccinations is not known to the RIVM: "We simply do not know what it is due to. What we do know is that the decline is happening across the entire country and with all vaccinations."
Critical threshold of 95%
The required vaccination rate is 95%: when less than 95% of all people have an MMR vaccination, the chance of a measles outbreak is high. Measles is extremely contagious. Someone carrying the virus infects an average of twelve to eighteen other unvaccinated individuals. For flu, those numbers are 1.4 to 4 people. However, this percentage in the Netherlands was lower than the critical threshold of 95% last year, namely at 93.8%. Especially in the well-known Bible Belt, this percentage is lower than the average.
Van Vliet emphasized the importance of vaccination again last summer. "It is important to realize that since the program was introduced in 1957, it has prevented 9,000 deaths." Do you have symptoms of measles? Then go to the doctor immediately. Have you had measles once in your life? Then you cannot get the disease again.
Source: Trouw, NOS, and RIVM
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