Germany as a measles exporter

Germany as a measles exporter

06.05.2011

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) had actually propagated the goal that measles in Germany should have been eradicated by 2010, 390 people are already suffering from measles in Germany this year. A 26-year-old patient with pre-existing conditions in a Munich clinic even died from the effects of measles. The reason for the dramatic revival of measles is the lack of vaccination in the population, warn the health authorities.

The growing number of measles diseases, according to the health authorities and the Professional Association of Paediatricians (BVKJ) is a clear indication of the spread of viruses in the unprotected population. That even medical staff is not vaccinated against measles, as was clear in the context of the death in the Munich clinic, the BVKJ evaluates as a scandal. Because measles are among the diseases with the highest risk of infection and unprotected contact with the virus 95 to 99 percent of those affected would contract measles, warned the BVKJ.

Measles are highly contagious - vaccination is recommended
The measles can, according to the president of the professional association of pediatricians, Wolfram Hartmann, currently spread mainly in the population between the ages of 20 and 40 years, since the appropriate vaccination protection is largely missing. According to the experts, it is particularly problematic that the allegedly harmless infectious disease in adults is often considerably more severe and may well end in death. According to the BVKJ president, the age group of 20- to 40-year-olds is particularly at risk, as they have been vaccinated against measles only once as a child and the vaccination has not been refreshed (this has only been common since 2001) or the affected children in childhood Were vaccinated and did not suffer from measles. Anyone who has already suffered from measles as a child, is immune to the disease throughout his life and does not have to worry about vaccine protection, the expert said. All unprotected persons, however, are exposed to a considerable risk of infection when they come into contact with the measles virus, because out of every 100 people without corresponding antibodies they get 99 if they come into contact with the measles pathogens. Nevertheless, unlike, for example, in Scandinavia or North and South America, there is no obligation to vaccinate in Germany, complained the president of the BVKJ. That even medical personnel do not have to undergo vaccinations, the expert feels a scandal.

Vaccination is the only option in the fight against measles?
Both the BVKJ and the Standing Vaccination Commission of the Robert Koch Institute see consistent immunization as the only way to fight measles effectively. Not only children should be vaccinated, but also all persons born after 1970 are required to check their personal immunization and, if necessary, to take the vaccination, said the president of the BVKJ. Even people who are unsure whether they had measles already as a child and thus have appropriate protection, should be vaccinated according to the BVKJ and the Standing Vaccination Commission. Two injections at intervals of four to six weeks, the risk of infection could be excluded in the future, said the BVKJ President Wolfram Hartmann. The costs of the two-time combination vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella are also taken over by the health insurance in adults, Hartmann continued. According to the doctor, the vaccine is generally well tolerated and side effects are not to be feared or extremely rare. Hartmann also called for a national vaccination plan similar to that already in place in other countries in connection with measles vaccinations. For the expert, it is unbelievable that „Germany is one of Europe's largest exporters of matrices“ counts.

Measles for adults particularly menacing
Tomas Jelinek, scientific director of the Center for Travel Medicine (CRM) in Dusseldorf also warned that the health risks of highly contagious measles in this country are often underestimated. Above all, adults are often unaware of the health consequences that measles disorders can have, critics said. According to Jelinek, measles are by no means harmless and can be deadly. Especially in the elderly, the disease usually takes a much more difficult course. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, conjunctivitis, runny nose and cough, and a little later the typical spotty-reddish rash (measles rash), which can spread over the entire body in the further course. Especially in older people and people with weakened immune systems, it could come in the course of disease to significant complications, said BVKJ President Hartmann. Eyes or pneumonia are relatively often the result of a measles disease but also life-threatening inflammation of the brain occur in the context of measles. According to the expert, about one in 1,000 measles patients dies of inflammation of the brain. (Fp)

Read about measles and infections:
First death toll from measles for years
WHO: Measles Increase in Europe
Measles also affects adults
The infectious disease measles spreads
Impfkritik: How useful are vaccinations?
The measles are raging in Baden-Württemberg