UN vaccinates 7 mln Madagascans in measles drive

	Tweet

U.N. workers and hundreds of volunteers have vaccinated more than 7 million children in Madagascar against measles to prevent a potentially lethal outbreak on the giant Indian Ocean island, a U.N. official said on Monday.

The month-long drive against the world’s biggest vaccine-preventable killer saw trucks and planes delivering 10 million doses of the vaccine throughout the country, which is bigger than France.

The operation, organised by the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, started in mid-September and aimed to vaccinate 7.7 million children aged nine months to 14 years. The campaign successfully reached 7.3 million.

UNICEF says measles caused nearly half of the world’s 1.7 million childhood deaths preventable by vaccines in 2000.

Prior to the campaign, only two in five children on Madagascar had been vaccinated, leaving the island open to a potentially lethal epidemic.

RELATED STORIES:
Peanut butter linked to U.S. Salmonella outbreak   Surgical Quality Measures Not Associated with Infection Rates   Japan found bird flu in flies from 2004 outbreak   “Superbug” a growing problem outside hospitals   Fewer babies get chicken pox when kids are vaccinated   Messy Diapers May be Sign of Severe Intestinal Infection   Idaho’s first case of West Nile virus for 2006   UK develops bird flu tests   Malaysia says dengue fever is nearing epidemic   Platelet transfusions carry risk of infection   Hepatitis C antibodies may be slow to appear   Vaccine promising for infants’ lung infection

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]