Fears of Measles epidemic in Saada: Health ministry

SANAA, May 02 (Saba) - Yemen's
Health Ministry has warned of Measles epidemic in Saada province, voicing fears of
appearing
death cases due to the Measles complications.
A report on the current situation in the province issued by the ministry said that
the discovered confirmed cases have reached 157 since the beginning of 2010,
including
27 cases discovered among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in both Amran and
Hajjah provinces and 113 cases in Sa'ada people. The other cases discovered in other
provinces.
The independent website Newsyemen said on Saturday according to the report that all
the vaccination activities have been suspended due to the war in the province,
indicating
that the children there are very susceptible to infectious diseases including measles.
The Health Ministry plans to secure the suitable situation to give the vaccine
against the Measles for IDPs under 15 years old in collaboration with local
authorities in
the neighboring provinces.
Measles cases came down in 2008 to eight cases and death cases have been registered
since 2007, the report showed.
Measles was the fourth causes of death among young children in Yemen. The country
was about to announce uprooting of the disease in 2010 but the campaign stopped
because
of the war.
AF/AF