Swiss: Measles & Euro 08 Football Fans

[Shiloh]

Source:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_di...Sect=104&sid=8780994&cKey=1203959225000&ty=nd

February 25, 2008 - 6:07 PM
Measles continues its forwards march
The measles epidemic affecting Switzerland has intensified in the first two months of this year, says the Federal Health Office.

It said in a statement that 400 new cases had so far been reported in 2008 ? more than a third of the total infections registered last year.

In 2007 1,081 people contracted the illness, with the highpoints being in July and August. Switzerland has been in the grip of an epidemic since November 2006.

At the moment it is mainly children and adolescents who are the most affected, said the health office.

Last year the Swiss authorities said they feared the country would fail to meet World Health Organization (WHO) vaccination targets for eradicating measles in Europe. They also pointed to health complications arising from the infectious viral illness.

The SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported on Sunday that Swiss officials were warning Euro 2008 football championship fans about the measles outbreak and advising them not to travel to Euro 08 co-host Switzerland this summer unless they were immunised.
Comments

 

[tropical]

Re: Swiss: Measles & Euro 08 Football Fans

"Last year the Swiss authorities said they feared the country would fail to meet World Health Organization (WHO) vaccination targets for eradicating measles in Europe. They also pointed to health complications arising from the infectious viral illness."

Such a whelty country ...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Swiss: Measles & Euro 08 Football Fans

Source: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/so...Sect=204&sid=8907588&cKey=1206721382000&ty=nd

March 28, 2008 - 5:24 PM
Measles outbreak prompts shots for all
Mass vaccinations against measles are being rolled out across Switzerland to cope with the country's worst epidemic since 1999.

The epidemic has reached all parts of the country, with 2,000 cases in the past 16 months and 133 sufferers treated in hospital, the Federal Health Office said on Friday.

Half of those affected were aged between five and 15. A total of 98 per cent of patients had either received just one of two necessary vaccinations or had not been vaccinated at all.

The Health Office, the conference of cantonal health directors and the association of cantonal doctors have issued a joint appeal to doctors to check their patients' records and offer vaccinations to adults born after 1963 who have not already had the virus.

Young children will be vaccinated as part of the regular immunisation programmes. Steps will also be taken to improve prevention such as excluding affected pupils from school and monitoring their family members.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Swiss: Measles & Euro 08 Football Fans

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7352490.stm
Page last updated at 00:27 GMT, Friday, 18 April 2008 01:27 UK

Euro 2008 supporters measles risk

Football supporters travelling to Euro 2008 may be at risk of catching measles, health officials have warned.

Significant outbreaks are occurring in Switzerland and Austria, the two countries hosting the competition this summer, Europe-wide figures show.

A team of vaccine experts is currently conducting a risk assessment in Austria just eight weeks before the tournament.

The experts warned people to make sure they are vaccinated against the highly contagious disease.

Figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show more than 1,300 measles cases were reported across Europe in the first quarter of 2008, compared to less than 800 in the same period last year.
In 2007, Switzerland, UK, Romania and Ireland were the countries with the highest number of measles cases per 100,000 population.

"Significant" outbreaks are currently occurring in Austria and Switzerland.

Hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom may be unvaccinated against measles, are expected to travel to Austria and Switzerland for the championship, European officials warned.

ECDC director Zsuzsanna Jakab said: "Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in existence, causing serious illness and even death.

"If unvaccinated people are exposed to it they have a high chance of being infected.

"Significant outbreaks have occurred recently in several European countries, so the risk to the millions of unvaccinated Europeans is real."

Routine childhood vaccination against measles was introduced in most European countries in the 1980s.

But there are many children and young adults who have not had the opportunity or have refused to be vaccinated meaning a target to eliminate measles from Europe by 2010 is unlikely to be met.

In the UK MMR immunisation rates dipped following research - since discredited - which raised the possibility that the vaccine may be linked to an increased risk of autism.

Professor Steve Field, chair of the Royal College of GPs said the general advice would be to get your child vaccinated.

"Children are probably even more at risk in the UK than many other countries in Europe so it's not just an issue for Euro 2008.

"Measles can be very serious and even fatal."