An IDP camp north of Raqqa, Syria has reported 60 cases of German measles (rubella) in the past few days, according to a Shaam Network report (computer translated). The cases were reported in children and some adults. One death of a child was reported.
Image/CIA
The Ain Issa camp, about 50 km north of Raqqa, includes approximately 3,000 tents and inhabited by more than 20,000 displaced people from Raqqa and Deir Al-Zour.
Rubella, or German measles infection in people is typically mild. However, in pregnant women, rubella can cause death or birth defects such as cataracts, deafness, glaucoma, and heart, lung and brain abnormalities in an unborn baby (fetus) during the first few months of pregnancy.
Rubella is a highly contagious disease. People who are infected with rubella are infectious from 1 week before to at least 4 days after the rash appears. It is transmitted through airborne droplet or close contact with the patient, but it is vaccine-preventable.
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