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Measles Alert in Yemen

24 April 2012

Measles is transmitted via respiratory droplets and can cause severe complications including pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis. It also makes children more susceptible to other illnesses. Several measles outbreaks, many of them large, have been reported since January 2011, including in Yemen. International travel is a significant contributory factor in the spread of measles from country to country.

In Yemen there have been more than 4,300 measles cases and 177 deaths from measles officially reported between January 2011 and March 2012. 95% of the deaths have been reported since January 2012. Experts have attributed the enormous increase in measles cases and deaths to declining immunisation rates and difficulties in accessing health care services in much of the country during a period of significant civil unrest. As the numbers of unvaccinated children has risen, the “herd” immunity for the population has been lost. This results in the disease spreading quickly among those who have reduced immunity or are unvaccinated causing severe illness and sometimes death. Children who are too young to be vaccinated are at a much higher risk of catching the disease when herd immunity is lost.

The mortality rates due to measles are already very high in the Yemen and are expected to rise further as a result of an increase in malnutrition rates and cases of acute watery diarrhoea which make people less able to fight off the measles infection.

A massive nationwide measles campaign is currently underway, integrated with polio and vitamin A. The first phase of the campaign has reached over 94% of the targeted 1.8 million children in seven priority areas.

 

If you are travelling to or staying in Yemen, log in to your MyHealth account and Ask A Nurse or look at our Travel Health Information Centre for information about how to look after yourself.

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