The Public Health Directorate (DSP) Covasna informs that since the beginning of the year, between January 1-7, 32 cases of measles have been reported in the county. Almost half of these occurred last weekend. Visiting patients hospitalized in the departments of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases children from The County Emergency Hospital (SJU) “Dr. Fogolyán Kristóf” from Sfântu Gheorghe is still suspended.
As of Friday, January 5, 17 cases have been reported. Of these, the majority are from Hetea and Doboșeni, the representative of the Public Health Directorate (DSP) Covasna, Igyártó Gabriella, informed us.
During the weekend of January 6-7, 15 cases were registered, of which only one was in Sfântu Gheorghe, and the rest of the cases were related to a confirmed case, DSP Covasna data also show.
“In December, 68 cases were investigated, of which seven were denied cases, 24 cases were confirmed by the laboratory and 27 cases were confirmed following contact with a confirmed case of the disease. Most of them are from Hetea. From Sfântu Gheorghe there are not so many cases in December, only six. Most of the cases were in Araci and Hetea. This is due to the very low vaccination coverage in the area. It’s a closed community and people are very reluctant to vaccinate, although we had vaccination drives repeatedly last fall, but unfortunately they just don’t want to vaccinate,” ne-a spus Gabriella Igyártó.
DSP Covasna representatives say that, in rare cases, there may be vaccinated people who contact the disease against which they were immunized. The measles vaccine provides significant protection against disease, but does not guarantee total immunity, but rather reduces the severity of the disease and prevents severe complications.
Only one child from those who contacted the disease was vaccinated, says Igyártó Gabriella.
The analyzes that detect the measles virus are carried out in Bucharest, in the laboratory of the “Cantacuzino” National Institute of Medical-Military Research and Development.
“It is highly recommended that babies who are between 9 and 11 months old be brought to the family doctor for the zero dose, because most of the cases are children who are at this age, so who have not yet received the vaccine. The danger of this disease manifesting itself and being more severe, also in the mentioned age group, is DSP Covasna also said.
31 children with measles, hospitalized
At the County Emergency Hospital (SJU) “Dr. Fogolyán Kristóf” in Sfântu Gheorghe, on Monday morning, 31 children were admitted with measles, as well as 15 adults. Some of them belong to children, and others have been confirmed to have the virus, Dr. Keresztesi Arthur, the hospital’s medical director, informed us.
Also due to the increase in the number of measles cases, SJU stopped, for an indefinite period, visiting patients hospitalized in the Pediatrics and Children’s Infectious Diseases wards.
At the beginning of December, the Ministry of Health declared a measles epidemic in Romania.
Measles is an infectious disease, which is easily transmitted especially to unvaccinated children, and sometimes the evolution is serious and complications may occur, warn officials from the Ministry of Health.
Nationally, vaccination coverage with the first dose is 78%, and with the second dose, 62% of eligible children.
In 2023, until December 31, there were 2,805 cases of measles. The highest incidence, according to dATES published by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) on January 3, is in the counties of Mureș, Brașov, Giurgiu, Cluj and Ilfov.
2024-01-09 10:14:33
#cases #measles #Covasna #county #week #year
