Dutch measles epidemic might spread further

The measles epidemic might spread further in the Netherlands, Roel Coutinho, Director of the RIVM Centre for Infectious Disease Control, told local media on Monday. So far most of the cases were concentrated in the middle of the Netherlands, said Coutinho, "but now that young children go back to school, the risk to be infected will increase." A measles epidemic broken out late May in the so-called Dutch "Bible Belt," a strip of land mainly inhabited by conservative Christians. Local outbreak of the measles, an infection of the respiratory system, was reported around reformatory schools in the middle of the country. In addition, patients were reported in the provinces of Zeeland, Utrecht and the rural area in the Randstad. Most Dutch people are vaccinated against measles through the national vaccination program, which was introduced in 1976 to protect all children at the age of 14 months and at the age of 9 years against measles. However, some people living in the "Bible Belt" choose not be vaccinated against diseases out of religious considerations. Measles could be easily transmitted from child to child, "so there is little school boards can do against it," said Coutinho.