Warning as measles follows travellers
Monday February 10th, 2014
An outbreak of measles in the Philippines has led to a spate of cases in the UK, it has been announced.
At
least ten travellers have returned from the Philippines infected by the
virus.
The news came as the World Health Organisation celebrated a dramatic reduction in deaths from the disease.
Some 562,000 people died from measles in 2000 but by 2012 this fell to 122,000.
The infected patients in the UK included people aged from one year to 45, including five children under the age of two.
Public Health England warned that health workers who have not been vaccinated should stop working if they have had contact with an infected patient.
And it called for travellers to ensure they are up to date with vaccines.
WHO says the Americas have successfully eliminated measles but Africa, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean are not likely to meet this objective soon.
Last month it was involved in vaccinating some 115,000 children in the Central African Republic in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
About 13% of the country's children die before reaching the age of five.
Tags: Africa | Asia | Flu & Viruses | UK News | World Health
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