Number of measles cases almost doubled in the second half of February

The number of measles cases has increased significantly in the last few weeks. The second half of February saw 29 people contract the contagious virus. This meant that the number rose from 34 infections midway through February to 63 cases now.

The National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) registered 31 cases of measles in January and 32 cases in February. A total of 13 infections were determined at the end of the first two months of last year.

The southeast part of the province of Noord-Brabant has the highest relative number of cases. The RIVM sees a “cluster of children with measles around a school.” The regional GGD reported last week that there were several cases of measles at a primary school in Helmond. In the western part of Noord-Brabant and the region of Rotterdam, there have been a few “family clusters” of measles.

According to the RIVM, most of the patients picked up the virus during a trip to Morocco or Romania. Those nations are in the midst of significant measles epidemics.

Measles is a severely contagious infection. Most Dutch residents have been protected by a vaccination. One infection infects an average of 15 people in groups that are not vaccinated. The virus initially causes symptoms like fever, sneezing, coughing, and infected eyes. This is then followed by spots on the skin.

Although the disease is often quite straightforward, complications also occur regularly. Around 1 to 5 percent of patients suffer from a lung infection and one in every thousand contract meningitis. These complications can result in loss of life.

The RIVM has reported that there is a large outbreak of measles every 10 to 15 years in the Netherlands. The last outbreak came in 2013 and 2014.