Mongolia's measles cases surpass 200

Ulan Bator, April 2 (IANS) The total number of measles cases in Mongolia has increased to 220, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said on Wednesday.

The majority of new measles infections were among school-age children who have had only one shot of the measles vaccine, the NCCD said in a statement.

The NCCD advised parents to protect their children from a potentially severe disease by getting them two doses of the measles vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the World Health Organisation, Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death.

Measles can affect anyone but is most common in children.

Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body. Any non-immune person (not vaccinated or vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected. Unvaccinated young children and pregnant women are at highest risk of severe measles complications.

Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people. The vaccine is safe and helps your body fight off the virus.

Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.

An estimated 107,500 people died from measles in 2023 – mostly children under the age of five years, despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine.

Accelerated immunisation activities by countries, WHO, the Measles & Rubella Partnership (formerly the Measles & Rubella Initiative), and other international partners successfully prevented an estimated 60 million deaths between 2000–2023. Vaccination decreased an estimated measles deaths from 800,062 in 2000 to 107,500 in 2022.

--IANS

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