Romania measles tally tops 5,000 cases since the beginning of the year
In a follow-up on a report last month, Romania’s Ministry of Health reported an additional 3,341 measles cases, bringing the total to 8,020 cases since January 1, 2023 and 5,215 cases since the beginning of 2024.
The death toll has reached eight- Brașov County (3), Bucharest City (3), Giurgiu county (1) and Mureș county (1). Of the eight deaths, all were unvaccinated, six were children, four of whom were not eligible for vaccination; at least five of all the reported deaths had underlying conditions.
Since January 1 this year, counties reporting the most measles include 727 cases reported in Brasov and 244 in Mures County.
Children under years of age account for 69.9% of all reported cases, including 1,021 children under one year of age (14.1%).
On December 5, 2023, the Ministry of Health declared a nationwide measles epidemic when nearly 2,000 measles cases were reported.
According to the Ministry of Health, vaccination coverage for the first dose of MMR is 78% at national level, and 62% for the second dose. Vaccination coverage has been decreasing for the past ten years in Romania.