Increasing number of measles cases

Increase in measles disease - Office calls for verification of vaccination status

Health experts have been pointing out the increasing number of measles cases in Germany for months. Also in the Lower Allgäu are increasingly detected diseases. The local health department is calling on the population to have the vaccine checked.

Measles are still dismissed by some people as a harmless childhood disease. But the disease also affects adults. In Lower Allgäu, the diseases are currently piling up. Since the beginning of June, 18 cases have been confirmed at the health department at the Unterallgäuer Landratsamt. "Among the new patients are also not vaccinated siblings of previously ill patients," it says in a statement.

In Lower Allgäu more measles diseases are registered. The county health department is calling for the vaccination status to be checked. (Image: pit24 / fotolia.com)

Check vaccination status

According to the information, some patients are now well again; However, some of them had to be hospitalized in hospital, according to the health department.

To prevent the virus from spreading, the health department again asks to check the vaccination status and to make up for missing vaccinations.

"And whether measles or not: It should be a matter of course in high fever and feeling ill to stay in bed and not go to school, kindergarten or to work," writes the health department.

Illness is highly contagious days before the typical rash

The disease is highly contagious several days before the typical red-spotted measles rash occurs.

In the beginning, the virus disease is similar to an upper respiratory tract infection, it can cause fever, runny nose, cough or conjunctivitis.

"Anyone who shows symptoms and is not vaccinated, should contact his family doctor. He then initiates the appropriate laboratory test to ensure the diagnosis, "emphasizes the health department.

Health experts advise vaccination

A double vaccination provides the best protection against the viral disease. Therefore, according to experts, it is important that adults have their own vaccine protection and that of their children checked by a doctor and completed if necessary.

Measles vaccinations are used as combination vaccines, the so-called measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations - often today in combination with a vaccine against chickenpox. Basically, two vaccinations are required to be fully protected.

In Germany, the measles vaccine is recommended for children from the eleventh month of life, for infants in a daycare from the ninth month.

And: "A one-time measles vaccine is generally recommended for all adults born after 1970 who have not been vaccinated against measles or whose immunization status is unclear," writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on his website.

"Those born before 1970 are likely to have already gone through measles," say the experts. (Ad)