Istanbul hospitals face an alarming rise in measles cases

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Istanbul hospitals have recently been faced with an alarming increase in measles cases amid the rising anti-vaccination movements, while if the measles vaccination rates fall below 95 percent, an epidemic might outbreak, an expert has warned.

The Istanbul Medical Chamber on June 13 published a report stating that measles cases have increased considerably throughout the province, adding that Türkiye ranks third after Russia and Tajikistan with 457 cases, according the number of measles cases in Europe between April 2022 and March 2023.

Some 343 of these cases were reported in January and February this year, the statement said.

Doctor Kenan Barut also pointed out that the anti-vaccine movements which have intensified since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, triggered this situation, noting that if the vaccination rate falls below 95 percent, the country might face the risk of measles epidemic.

Stating that they have seen 17 measles cases in the last six months only at Istanbul University's Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Barut noted that this figure was quite high considering they accepted only 100 patients per day in the emergency unit.

Hospitals in which more patients receive treatments might have reported more cases, he said.

Barut called for the measles vaccine, which has been applied for half a century and proven to be reliable, to be applied to children.

Anti-vaccine movements, immigrations, unplanned changes in the vaccination schedule, interregional inequalities in immunization and the unregistered population were cited as the main causes of the rise in the cases, according to the expert.