If you haven’t yet gotten yourself or your kids vaccinated against measles, there’s no better time to do it than now. Measles is making its way round the world once again, as evinced by the outbreaks reported in several countries despite the year just starting out.
The following countries have reported measles outbreaks in the first few months of 2019:
- Hong Kong
- United States of America
- Philippines
- France
- Chad
- Nigeria
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Mauritius
- Madagascar
- Ukraine
If you’re making holiday plans in Hong Kong, Mauritius, the Philippines or any of the countries in the above list in the next few months, it’s especially crucial that you get yourself and your travelling partners vaccinated against measles.
What is Measles?
The disease is viral in nature and highly infectious. There are many strains of it so symptoms can vary but distinctive symptoms are a fever, a skin rash made up of large, flat blotches that flow into one another, sore throat, a runny nose and inflamed eyes. Measles can also be fatal for young children, but is almost entirely preventable – all you need is a vaccine!
The Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine
Make an appointment with us or your nearest travel clinic at least two months before you travel so that you can be administered both doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. This is to make sure that you’re fully protected before you travel to these countries, which pose a considerable risk of transmission for the time being.
Remember that the second dose of the MMR vaccine can only be administered 28 days after the first one, so don’t wait till the last minute to get yourself protected. Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective and one dose is 93% effective in protecting you from measles.
Plus, the vaccine offers you lifelong protection which means that you don’t have to worry about being confined to the sickbed with a bad case of measles ever again.
So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t been administered a Measles vaccine when you were a child or if you’re unsure about your immunity, make an appointment with us for travel health advice and vaccinations!
