The authorities warn that measles has spread swiftly in Moldova in the recent past. From January 1 until May 31 this year, there were reported 28 cases of measles. A number of 26 cases were reported in May alone and this is alarming, IPN reports, with reference to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection.

In most of the cases, the affected persons haven’t been vaccinated against measles. Only two of the persons who caught measles were vaccinated, the last shot being administered in 2002. Five persons, two of whom children, were immunized five days before the start of the disease and the body didn’t manage to produce antibodies.

Children aged between 7 and 17 were involved in almost half of the cases. Three of the affected children were younger than one and couldn’t have been vaccinated at that age. The calendar of vaccination in Moldova envisions the administration of three vaccine doses against measles, mumps and rubella, at the ages of 1, 6-7 and 15-16.

The authorities remind that measles is six times more infectious than season flu and can result in such serious complications as ear infection, pneumonia, permanent deafness and encephalitis and can even lead to death. Measles spreads quickly inside and outside communities if the group immunity obtained by inoculation is not maintained. The measles immunization coverage in Moldova in 2017 was 87%. This is not enough for protecting each person from the disease.