Over 100 people infected with measles since March

May 4, 2018

Tokyo- An outbreak of measles in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa in March has spilled over to the central prefecture of Aichi, with the accumulated total of patients surpassing 100 in the two prefectures.

A Taiwanese tourist in his 30s who arrived in Okinawa on March 17 was diagnosed with measles on March 20. As the man had visited some tourist sites in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, and other parts of the prefecture, infections of the disease were later confirmed among the users of facilities visited by him.

In April, a measles patient who apparently got infected in Okinawa was confirmed in Aichi and more people later developed the disease in the central prefecture.

The accumulated total of people infected with measles stood at 88 in Okinawa and 14 in Aichi. Measles infections have been confirmed in other prefectures as well.

After a latent period of some 10 days, the highly contagious disease causes cold-like symptoms such as fever, cough and a runny nose, which will be followed by skin rashes. While patients usually recover in seven to 10 days after the start of symptoms, some may develop complications such as pneumonia and inflammation of the brain.

Vaccination is effective to prevent measles infection. In Japan, people are supposed to receive routine measles vaccinations twice--at the age of one and before entering elementary school.

But some people may not have sufficient immunity against measles as only one vaccination per person was administered between October 1978 and March 2006.

The health ministry is urging people to check the number of vaccine doses they received and get vaccinated for the second time if they only had one vaccination.

As a lot of people travel during Golden Week holidays in Japan, which will continue through this weekend, there is concern that the outbreak of measles may spread further in the country. "We want people who develop symptoms such as rashes to first call hospitals and then go see doctors quickly," a health ministry official said. Jiji Press