By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Officials with the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine report the number of measles cases is rising again, so it is important to protect yourself and get your baby vaccinated before the start of the school year.

Image/Robert Herriman

For the week ending Aug. 4, 287 people became ill with measles – 160 adults and 127 children. The highest number of cases were reported in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.

Since the beginning of the year, 56,861 people became ill with measles in Ukraine- 26,748 adults and 30,113 children, and 18 people died from measles complications.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine provides free vaccination for children and adults alike: age restrictions on free measles vaccination have been abolished . You can also vaccinate infants as young as 6 months of age, for whom measles is particularly dangerous. In addition, children whose parents received false vaccination certificates should receive the vaccination.

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Elsewhere in Europe, from 1 July 2018–30 June 2019, 30 EU/EEA Member States reported 13,102 cases of measles. The highest number of cases were reported by France (2,367), Italy (1,831),
Romania (1,628) and Poland (1,445), accounting for 18%, 14%, 12% and 11% of all cases respectively.