Measles outbreak forces Japanese university to cancel classes
Tokyo - A top Tokyo university on Monday suspended classes amid concerns over a growing outbreak of the measles, a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease.
Waseda University, one of Japan's most prestigious institutions, dismissed class for nine days and banned entry to its campuses, affecting about 55,000 students.
The university reportedly confirmed 30 students had contracted the disease by Monday.
Other leading universities in Tokyo -- Chuo, Komazawa, Nihon, Seikei and Sophia -- have also closed classes in fear of the disease.
Measles, like chicken pox, is one of the diseases many people contract and build immunity against in childhood. University students are seen as particularly susceptible as they come from different areas into close contact.
Measles was the world's single most lethal infectious disease before an effective vaccine emerged in 1963.
In the early 1960s, as many as 135 million cases of measles occurred each year around the world, six million of them fatal.
Measles suppresses the body's immune system, weakening its ability to fight against pneumonia -- which accounts for 60 per cent of measles-related deaths -- along with diarrhoea and acute encephalitis.
Tokyo - A top Tokyo university on Monday suspended classes amid concerns over a growing outbreak of the measles, a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease.
Waseda University, one of Japan's most prestigious institutions, dismissed class for nine days and banned entry to its campuses, affecting about 55,000 students.
The university reportedly confirmed 30 students had contracted the disease by Monday.
Other leading universities in Tokyo -- Chuo, Komazawa, Nihon, Seikei and Sophia -- have also closed classes in fear of the disease.
Measles, like chicken pox, is one of the diseases many people contract and build immunity against in childhood. University students are seen as particularly susceptible as they come from different areas into close contact.
Measles was the world's single most lethal infectious disease before an effective vaccine emerged in 1963.
In the early 1960s, as many as 135 million cases of measles occurred each year around the world, six million of them fatal.
Measles suppresses the body's immune system, weakening its ability to fight against pneumonia -- which accounts for 60 per cent of measles-related deaths -- along with diarrhoea and acute encephalitis.