By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
The Ministry of Health in Gaza report a measles outbreak in the Gaza Strip. The ministry said in a statement that the 1st case was recorded last June 2019, and the cases began to increase until the current month of December 2019, according to the Mashreq News in December.
The World Health Organization reported this week from 1 January through 19 December 2019, a total of 124 laboratory confirmed cases of measles, including two deaths, were reported in the Gaza Strip.
Since the establishment of the indicator-based surveillance in Gaza Strip in 1986, no measles cases were reported in Gaza Strip except one confirmed case in 2000.
The Ministry of Health attributes the outbreak to the collapse of the vaccination systems in the neighboring countries that had previously controlled the disease.
WHO reports, of the confirmed cases in Gaza, 57 cases (46%) were un-vaccinated, of which 28 (23%) were among infants between 6 months to one year old, and 29 (23%) among age groups higher than 30 years old. Between 2009 and 2018, the median administrative immunization coverage for the second dose of measles-containing-vaccine (MCV2) was 97%.
The Gaza MOH has strengthened surveillance systems and initiated an early notification system. In addition, they continue high vaccination efforts in the community.
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