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Germany hit with measles outbreak

Friday, 27 February 2015 8:56 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 27 February 2015 8:56 AM ]

Nurcan Ozdemir
Press TV, Berlin

Berlin is experiencing one of the worst measles outbreaks in over a decade. A toddler who had not been vaccinated, died from the disease last week, the same day he was delivered to the hospital.

Measles used to be one of the most feared and deadliest epidemics in the world because it is one of the most contagious infectious illnesses for the human body. With the introduction of vaccination, people forgot about the fear of the disease: And that's believed to be a long-term effect of misinformation and vaccine fatigue.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease transmitted through droplets. More than nine out of ten unvaccinated persons fall ill after being in contact with the virus. An infection can cause severe complications, such as pneumonia or brain fever.

During the last measles epidemic in 2013, 39 percent of those infected were older than 20 years. This time the number is 45 percent.

Now officials are debating to introduce a compulsory vaccination. The Opposition is against it.

Initially the World Health Organization had set itself the goal to eliminate measles until 2015. In many countries, including Germany, the immunization rates are not high enough yet to eradicate measles.

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