Fifth child dies of measles in Azerbaijan in two weeks
Measles among children in Azerbaijan
A 10-year-old girl died of measles in Azerbaijan yesterday. This is the fifth child to die of measles in the country in the last two weeks. Some classes in several schools have switched to distance education due to measles cases. The Ministry of Health appealed to citizens to have children under 10 yvaccinated.
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A fifth child has died of measles
In Ashagi Surra village of Neftchala district of Azerbaijan, 10-year-old girl Aliyeva Samira died of measles on the way to hospital.
According to relatives, the girl contracted measles a week ago, her relatives tried to treat her at home. However, the child’s condition gradually worsened.
It is noted that Samira’s brother also contracted measles some time ago and recovered.
Samira Aliyeva was a 5th grade student of a secondary school of Ashagi Surra village.
Some classes at a few schools have switched to distance learning
Many schools take the temperature of students and staff every day.
“We regularly work with the relevant institutions on measles disease. We want the disease not to have a serious impact on the educational process,” Science and Education Minister Emin Amrullayev said.
The number of measles cases in individual schools is isolated, the minister said. But primary classes of School No. 195 located in Garadagh district of Baku, as well as some classes of the lyceum at Slavic University, have switched to distance education.
“At present, there are no reasons for closing schools or switching to distance education, except for those listed above. But the situation may change depending on the number of people who fall ill. In general, the issue is under our control,” the minister added.
“The majority of those infected are school children and preschoolers.”
Last week, the Azerbaijan Medical Territorial Units Management Association (TƏBİB) made an official statement on the spread of measles in the country:
“Cases of measles infection have been recorded in Azerbaijan, most of which are among schoolchildren and students of pre-schools.”
It is also noted that cases of measles have been rare in Azerbaijan in recent years, and in some years have not been recorded at all. The highest incidence rate was in 2018, mainly among the population over 40 years old. In this regard, an off-calendar vaccination was conducted.
TƏBIB said in a statement that the increase in measles incidence was predicted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The European region is also currently experiencing an increase in the incidence of the disease, the agency said.
“Measles is considered one of the infectious diseases of childhood and belongs to the group of diseases that are cured by themselves. That is, there is no special treatment for this disease. Measles is a disease that does not require hospital treatment, which is usually treated at home, isolating the patient,” the report said.
It is noted that in a number of cases, infected patients may develop complications such as pneumonia, middle ear inflammation, encephalitis, meningitis and others. In such cases, patients are hospitalized in infectious diseases departments of TƏBIB medical institutions, and treatment costs are paid for within the framework of the MHI package, the report says.
The TƏBIB emphasized that the morbidity situation is under control throughout the republic.
“We would like to note once again that all patients who came in with complications were not immunized against measles. There is a special vaccine against measles and it is included in the national vaccination calendar. The measles vaccine is administered to children at 12 months and 6 years of age. Vaccination is extremely important to protect against infection, possible complications and the consequences from these complications. The vaccine entered the National Vaccination Calendar in 1994, it is available free of charge,” the report emphasizes.
“All children under 10 years of age should be vaccinated!”
On December 6, the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan distributed a message on measles vaccination for children under 10 years old.
“We would like to inform parents that in order to ensure protection of children’s health and prevent the spread of infection, according to the “Calendar of preventive vaccinations” operating in the country, all children aged 1 and 6 years old should be vaccinated twice with vaccinations against measles, epidemic mumps and rubella.
Children who did not get the first dose of vaccine on time should be immunized as soon as possible, and a second dose of vaccine should be given when they reach 6 years of age.
At the same time, children under 10 years of age who have not received the 2nd dose of vaccine on time for any reason should be immunized as soon as possible.
In addition, children under 10 years old, who did not receive both doses of vaccine in time, should be administered the 1st and 2nd doses of vaccine with an interval of at least 4 weeks,” the Ministry of Health said.
