Measles peak in Berlin

Berlin has registered the most measles infections for 10 years

01.09.2011

Already in May, the provincial health authorities and the professional association of paediatricians (BVKJ) had warned against a growing spread of measles, Berlin now reports a ten-year peak in the number of measles infections. The World Health Organization's goal of eradicating measles in Europe by the end of 2015 thus seems unattainable.

Already at the beginning of the year, there was a clear increase in measles diseases in Germany. Particularly from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, significantly more measles infections were reported between January and May than in the same period of the previous year. But even in northern Germany, the number of diseases has increased significantly, as confirmed by the current announcement of a ten-year peak from Berlin. 130 measles diseases were reported here in the first half of 2011, which represents an increase of more than 45 percent compared to the previous year (92 reported measles infections in 2010), according to the announcement of the Berlin Health Senate Administration, the Medical Association and Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians on Thursday. In particular, infants under the age of one year are affected much more often than in 2010. According to the experts, the health consequences are not to be underestimated. About half of the patients had to be hospitalized because of the condition, the authorities report.

According to the experts, the health consequences of the virus infection include fever, headache, conjunctivitis, runny nose and cough in the early stages of the disease as well as the typical spotty-nodular reddish rash (measles rash) later in the disease. In severe disease can also cause lung and middle ear infections and, in rare cases, life-threatening inflammation of the brain. According to the authorities, the measles patients in Berlin fortunately did not suffer from inflammation of the brain. Overall, the measles diseases are increasing significantly in Germany, as the vaccine protection in the population has decreased significantly, so the statement of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Professional Association of Pediatricians. According to information from the RKI, 1,485 measles infections were reported throughout Germany in the first half of 2011, which is close to three times that of the same period of the previous year.

Therefore, the BVKJ and the RKI urgently press for months for measles vaccination. Infants should therefore also be vaccinated, with a double vaccination between the eleventh and fourteenth month of life and the 15th and 23 months of life is required. Newborns and infants less than eleven months of age, who can not yet receive their own vaccine due to the threat of health risks, are particularly at risk from a complicated course of the disease, according to the RKI and the BVKJ. In addition, they benefit greatly in the course of the so-called herd immunity from a good vaccination of their environment, report BVKJ and RKI. In addition, the skepticism of many parents against vaccinations is relatively unfounded, since the vaccine is generally well tolerated and side effects are extremely rare, said the BVKJ President Wolfram Hartmann in May. However, immunization is generally a major invasion of our immune system, as the Chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) Jan Leidel said. This is necessary for the vaccinations „but, as with any effective drug, it can sometimes lead to unwanted side effects“, so the statement of the STIKO chairman. (Fp)

Also read:
Germany as a measles exporter
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

Picture: Gerd Altmann