Just a few days ago we informed you of the terrible measles outbreak in Romania, a news that has also been echoed by the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, which fears the high export risk of this disease that the outbreak may cause.
Not surprisingly, during the last quarter of last year, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain They also reported, to a greater or lesser extent, outbreaks of this disease. Therefore, we ask ourselves: are we facing a European measles epidemic?
In this map, prepared by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Public Health Institute of Romania, and published on the website of the Vaccine Advisory Committee, you can see the current situation in Europe regarding measles.
Romania, the country that worries most
We told you a few days ago, Romania is the country that most worries experts with more than 8,000 infections and 32 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak, in September last year.
Via Vaccine Advisory Committee According to the Vaccine Advisory Committee, the Romanian Minister of Health, Florian Bodog, confirmed that the deceased were not vaccinated and that the vaccination coverage against measles in his country was 80% for the first dose and only 50% for the second.
The ABC newspaper echoes the statements of a pediatrician from a Bucharest hospital who says impotent:
To stop the progression of the disease, the Romanian Government has proposed imposing mandatory vaccination and fines with 1,000 euros to parents who do not want to vaccinate their children at risk, a measure that, however, does not convince everyone"We were waiting for this to happen because the vaccination rate had dropped a lot in recent years. It hasn't been a surprise."
Italy, fines and loss of parental rights
The case of Italy is another one that is especially concerned about the notable decrease in vaccination rates that have been recorded in recent years. According to The Guardian, the proportion of two-year-old children who received vaccines went from 88% in 2013, to 86% in 2014 and to 85.3% in 2015, well below the 95% threshold recommended by the World Organization Of the health.
So far this year almost 3,000 cases of measles have been diagnosed in this country, of which a 30% have suffered some complications and four out of 10 have needed hospitalization.
For all these reasons, the Government has decided to impose a mandatory vaccination to enter nursery schools and nursery schools from the next academic year. Breach the vaccination schedule with a child in the elementary stage, it will not prevent parents from schooling him, according to El Mundo, but they can be fined up to 7,500 euros and lose parental rights if doctors request it to the Juvenile Court
Spain, there are no laws that require vaccination
The Vaccine Advisory Committee reported in April a measles outbreak in Barcelona which was initiated by an adult who traveled to China and became infected, spreading the disease among his contacts (adults and children) not vaccinated or incompletely vaccinated.
According to the Institute of Public and Labor Health of Navarra, there has also been an outbreak of measles in this town that although it seems to be already controlled, has affected 47 people (mostly young adults) so far this year.
In our country, vaccination coverage exceeds the recommended 95%. In 2015, the vaccine coverage of the first dose of triple viral vaccine (12 months of age) was 96.2% and of the second dose (3-4 years), 94.6%, globallyBy autonomous communities, the lowest coverage corresponds to the Valencian Community (90.9%) and Catalonia (92.6%) for the first dose, and for the second dose, the Valencian Community (85.8%) and Murcia ( 88%)
For now in Spain there are no laws that force parents to vaccinate to his children as it happens in other European countries, and the Spanish Association of Pediatrics prefers the scientific and ethical argument to convince with the word, as explained to us by Dr. David Moreno, Coordinator of the Vaccine Advisory Committee in this interview.
Belgium, with a vaccination rate of 95%
Belgium, one of the European countries with the highest vaccination rates In the face of measles, he has not been able to escape the epidemic in Europe and according to local media the outbreak could have been caused by a person who traveled to Romania.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control there are 316 affected, although the worst situation is in the Wallonia region, where only at the beginning of the year 70 cases had been registered against the seven or eight registered in the same period of previous years.
In Belgium there are no laws that force parents to vaccinate to his children but families are very aware of vaccination and the country more than meets the minimum vaccination rate recommended by WHO for the population to be protected.
Data in other countries according to ECDC
According to data published in a study conducted by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Measles infected by measles in Europe have risen considerably this year.
Austria: As of March 2017, a total of 68 cases had been reported since the last week of 2016; 40 cases more than those counted in the same time period of the previous year.
United Kingdom: There are already 460 cases of measles registered in the United Kingdom. According to the Free Press, the Welsh Ministry of Public Health is urging parents to make sure their children have the vaccination schedule per day before starting classes again.
France: It is one of the countries of the European Union with lower vaccination rate against measles, which has been stuck for several years at 75%. The 327 outbreaks recorded in recent months have led the Government of the country to impose mandatory vaccination from 2018 on all children under 2 years.
Portugal: In April, there were 22 people affected by measles in the country and there was also the death of a 17-year-old girl infected by not being vaccinated. This fact has generated debate among the Portuguese population that has begun to collect signatures for the creation of a law that forces parents to vaccinate.
Germany: With 950 affected so far this year (47 reported in the month of January compared to the 6 that occurred in the same period of the previous year), it is one of the countries that has been immersed in this measles outbreak for the longest time ravages Europe. At the moment there is no plan to force parents to vaccinate although emphasis will be placed on informing and working towards achieving total vaccination coverage.
The only solution is vaccination
Measles is a viral disease with high contagion capacity among the non-immunized population, that is, among the unvaccinated or those who have not already been through this disease.
The measles vaccine, which has been used for more than 50 years, has reduced mortality by this disease by 79% between 2000 and 2015, avoiding a total of 20.3 million victims, according to El Confidencial report.
And although it is a priori disease without serious consequences, can lead to serious complications in certain population groups and even cause the death of the patient.
Today, avoiding measles is easier than ever in developed countries and with easy and free access to vaccines, since with 95% vaccination coverage, the entire population is considered safe from the disease.
The Vaccine Advisory Committee reports the need to strengthen vaccination programs and surveillance systems to ensure an optimal vaccination rate among the populationAccording to El Confindencial, the director of the WHO European office, Zsuzsanna Jakab, warns of the risk we are in and urges governments to take urgent measures to stop the measles outbreak:
"I urge all countries where the disease is endemic to take urgent measures to stop the transmission of measles within their borders, and to all nations to keep guard and maintain high vaccination coverage"
“The outbreaks will continue in Europe, and everywhere, until each country reaches the necessary level of immunization to fully protect their populations. ”
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