Abstract
Since early January 2010, Berlin has been experiencing a measles outbreak with 62 cases as of 31 March. The index case acquired the infection in India. In recent years, measles incidence in Berlin has been lower than the German average and vaccination coverage in school children has increased since 2001. However, this outbreak involves schools and kindergartens with low vaccination coverage and parents with critical attitudes towards vaccination, which makes the implementation of public health interventions challenging.
Highlights
Since the implementation of the new national Protection Against Infection Act (Infektionsschutzgesetz; IfSG) in Germany in 2001, clinically suspected measles cases as well as laboratory confirmation for measles has to be reported to the District Health Offices [1]
Since samples of the index case were not available, PCR was performed at the National Reference Centre for Measles, Mumps and Rubella at the Robert KochInstitute (RKI) on a sample of a related case diagnosed on 19 January 2010
After diagnosis of the index case in early January the responsible District Health Offices implemented public health interventions according to the Protection Against Infection Act to interrupt the spread of measles
Summary
Spotlight on measles 2010: Preliminary report of an ongoing measles outbreak in a subpopulation with low vaccination coverage in Berlin, Germany, JanuaryMarch 2010. Since early January 2010, Berlin has been experiencing a measles outbreak with 62 cases as of 31 March. Measles incidence in Berlin has been lower than the German average and vaccination coverage in school children has increased since 2001. This outbreak involves schools and kindergartens with low vaccination coverage and parents with critical attitudes towards vaccination, which makes the implementation of public health interventions challenging
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