Vaccination advice

Already 55 confirmed measles cases in Austria

The number of measles cases in Austria is rising. More than 100 cases have been reported since the beginning of the year, 55 of which have been confirmed. A case from Vorarlberg was also reported on Saturday.

Vorarlberg's state health councillor Martina Rüscher (ÖVP) pointed out that the disease is easily transmitted and potentially dangerous and urgently recommended vaccination.

"Vaccination is the safest precaution, it provides reliable protection and is free of charge," Rüscher appealed to those citizens who have not had the disease.

According to AGES (Agency for Health and Food Safety), Vienna and Tyrol are currently particularly affected, with 24 and 23 confirmed cases respectively.

Extremely contagious infectious disease
Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases of all. The virus is transmitted, for example, when coughing, sneezing or speaking. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and a reddish-brown rash. The virus can cause serious complications such as inflammation of the brain and, even after several years, a very rare but fatal late complication - subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).

Vaccination rate down
According to the WHO, vaccination rates against measles have fallen during the coronavirus pandemic. Persistent immunity gaps and missed vaccinations have left many people, including a large number of children, vulnerable to this potentially fatal disease. In the WHO Europe region alone, around 1.8 million infants were not vaccinated against measles between 2020 and 2022.

This makes it all the more urgent to step up vaccination efforts to prevent the disease from spreading again, the regional office explained. All countries must be prepared to "recognize measles outbreaks quickly and respond in a timely manner". Otherwise, the progress made in eradicating measles in Europe would be jeopardized.