In a follow-up on the measles epidemic in Romania, European health officials, in an update Friday, report the outbreak tally is now 5,119 cases since the beginning of 2016. This includes 24 deaths.
A local media report states that the country has run out of measles vaccine; however, Health minister Florian Bodog has recently said that 115,000 vaccines would reach Romania by May 10. He stated on Tuesday that the first 10,000 doses will reach the country this week and will be directed to the ten counties where the vaccines are missing.
Speaking on the topic recently, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, spoke of the government’s commitment to resolve the current vaccine supply shortage and ensure predictability, flexibility and continuity of supply in the future: “It’s a situation that can no longer be tolerated or accepted. It’s inadmissible for multiple vaccine shortage crises to occur in Romania each year. This situation has caused suffering to those families whose children died of measles. There are no excuses for these tragedies, nor for the fact that for certain vaccines only 1 in 2 children are immunized”.
Thirty-eight of the 42 districts have reported cases, Caras Severin (West part of the country, at the border with Serbia) being the most affected with 965 cases. The highest burden has fallen on children, including 888 infants too young to be vaccinated.
In addition to vaccine shortages, Romania has experienced a substantial drop in immunization coverage. Nearly 97 percent of the total measles cases reported were in unvaccinated individuals.
Related:
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- Portugal measles cases rise to 27
- Measles outbreak grows by a dozen cases during past week
The CDC reported a measles outbreak in a 100% documented vaccinated population.
Historical trends show that deaths caused by childhood illnesses had already
declined as much as 90% before vaccine programs were ever initiated.
Evidence indicates that an improved standard of living, better
nutrition, and increased sanitation, caused this drop in disease, not
vaccines
What a load of rubbish you write. Historical trends show that vaccination is the single most effective method of reducing rates of communicable disease. Small pox has been completly eradicated due to vaccination. get your facts straight, becuase you speak like an idiot
This is just false. Sanitation didn’t decrease the prevalence of measles. The death rate decreased thanks to progress in intensive care, this rate doesn’t include consequences as deafness, blindness, or cerebral palsy. Only vaccine coverage eliminated the disease, even in third world countries where sanitation is far from granted, whereas wealthy areas like Swizerland or Germany have outbreaks and deaths. They have the highest standards of sanitation but also facebook mom groups that share adresses of doctors who sell fake certificates (which make it looks like the coverage is still high).