Following a sharp increase in the number of measles cases, as well as a large number of hospitalized infected children, Romania's Ministry of Health has declared a national measles outbreak, Romania Insider reports.
Currently, nearly 2,000 cases have been registered in 29 counties.
As a result of the epidemic, children between the ages of 9 and 11 months will be vaccinated, compared to the normal smallpox vaccination schedule of 12 months and 5 to 7 years. The unvaccinated or those with incomplete vaccination will also be covered by the new campaign.
The Ministry of Health will also conduct an information campaign for parents, in collaboration with family doctors, to improve compliance with the vaccination programme.
"Measles is an infectious disease that is easily transmitted, especially to unvaccinated children, and sometimes the progression is serious and complications can occur," officials from the Ministry of Health warn.
Vaccination coverage with the first dose nationally is 78% and with the second dose 62% of vaccine-eligible children, a downward trend for more than 10 years. /BГNES
