Public health Measles running rampant in Duisburg
Duisburg · Since the beginning of the year, 253 cases of measles have been registered in Duisburg. The city in the Ruhr area is located about 30 kilometers north of Düsseldorf.
Numerous cases of measles are being reported in Duisburg every week. In the week before Easter, authorities registered 17 new cases. From the beginning of the year until this past Monday, 253 cases had been registered with the Duisburg Health Department. In comparison, the North Rhine Westphalia Health Department registered a total of 28 cases for all off 2016.
In Duisburg, three quarters of those who became infected with the highly contagious measles virus were younger than 18-years-old, 47 of them being infants. Some children had to be admitted to hospital for treatment.
Public health officer Dieter Weber reports that more than half of the cases involve immigrants from southeastern Europe who are without health insurance or their insurance status is unclear. Another larger group comes from Bulgaria. Of those who are affected, about 50 of them have already lived in Germany for a long time.
Weber suspects a correlation with the current measles outbreak in Rumania. He said the same virus type was being found in Duisburg. According to his information, around 17,000 people from southeastern Europe are living in Duisburg, and about 40 percent of them are children. City authorities are trying to tackle the problem with an immunization campaign. (dpa/ck)
