Measles outbreak sickens 4,000 in Romania

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | December 5, 2005 | NA

[neverdem]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CONSTANTA, Romania -- An outbreak of measles has infected more than 4,000 children in Romania, killing 10 of them, health officials said Monday.

The Health Ministry has launched an investigation into the death of two babies in the Black Sea port city of Constanta, where more than 1,000 children have contracted the disease this year.

"It's very serious because more than half the children are under the age of one," said Marius Enescu, who heads the local public health department in Constanta.

He said the two babies who died over the weekend also suffered from other serious health problems and their condition was worsened by the measles.

Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu has ordered an acceleration of the immunization campaign and has disbanded the national Center for Disease Control for failing to coordinate vaccinations and prevent the spread of measles.

He has said the outbreak appeared because some children had been missed by immunization campaigns. Also, in 2005 the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination schedules were disrupted by a shortage of vaccine.

Measles vaccinations are mandatory in Romania for children at ages 1 and 7. The ministry has also ordered immunization for measles, mumps and rubella for infants over the age of seven months.

The opposition Social Democratic Party has accused the government of failing to react promptly after the first measles cases were detected in March.

[neverdem]

Measles can be a very bad actor. I had Measles. I was pretty sick, going down to fifty pounds from sixty in three weeks.

[OpusatFR]

So did I. I had that measles "cough" for over a year. The stuff is nasty.