In a follow-up on the measles outbreak in Ukraine, the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reports an additional 439 measles cases during the first week of September–203 adults and 236 children.

Image/Robert Herriman
Image/Robert Herriman

Since the beginning of the year, 30,744 people have become ill with measles – 12,608 adults and 18,136 children.

Lviv has seen the most cases with 6,002, followed by Transcarpathian (3,046), Ivano-Frankivsk (2,808) and Odessa (2,400).

The capital of Kyiv, or Kiev has seen more than 2,100 cases.

Ukrainians suffer the most in measles in the European region in 2018 – 56.3% (23,067 people in the first 6 months). This is 24.1 times more than during the same period last year.

Measles in Europe: ‘We are seeing a dramatic increase in infections and extended outbreaks’

The vaccine coverage in Ukraine from 2009 to 2018 is significantly lower than in other countries of the European Region of the WHO.