Measles Outbreak Prompts Flanders to Warn Against Travel to Morocco

Professor Daan Van Brusselen, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the Antwerp hospital group ZAS, recommends vaccination before any travel to Morocco during the Easter holidays. "Anyone traveling during the Easter holidays should check which countries have epidemic outbreaks. This is currently the case in Austria, Morocco and northern Italy," he advised.

Measles has been diagnosed in eleven children in recent weeks at this center. Two serious cases have been placed in intensive care, reported Flemish media. This infection "concerns forty percent of cases in Flanders, or nineteen patients. The fact that it mainly affects young children indicates insufficient vaccination. Three children are not yet a year old, twelve children are under three years old. Just last night, four children were admitted to us for measles," the specialist told La libre, expressing concern about the increase in measles cases: "We had never experienced this before."

The measles virus is generally transmitted through saliva, particularly through droplets released by coughing or sneezing. An infected person can infect 12 to 18 unvaccinated people, the professor explained. It manifests itself with a high fever, cough, irritated red eyes, and then a skin rash. Complications such as pneumonia, diarrhea or even encephalitis can occur. In some cases, it can lead to death.