Ministry Of Health Blames Believers For Measles Spreading In Belarus

The statement was made by the country's chief sanitary doctor.

Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Sanitary Doctor of Belarus Aliaksandr Tarasenka said that measles is spreading among, among other things, those Belarusians who have refused vaccinations for religious reasons. According to him, there is no epidemic in the country, but there should be “caution.”

“Due to the fact that the disease is very contagious, all these patients with suspected measles were hospitalized in the infectious diseases department of the district hospital. This suggests that there should be caution. And today it should be in view of the fact that there is still an increase in acute respiratory infections in Belarus,” said Aliaksandr Tarasenka about the situation in Lida and Belarus in general.

In total, according to the Ministry of Health, 204 cases of measles have been recorded in the country. Of these, 62% are in the Brest region, 16% in the Mahiliou region, followed by the Hrodna region.

“In the Brest region, the measles situation is connected, among other things, with religious communities. We are talking about ardent refusals of vaccination,” the Ministry of Health reported. According to Tarasenka, about 43% of all cases were children from 7 to 17 years old, and 30% were people from 18 to 40 years old.

The Ministry of Health assured that they are checking all those in contact with the infected people.

“We strongly recommend that those who are in the group of contacts in the absence of information about vaccination or lack of information about the previous disease, get vaccinated. And we recommend that parents do not refuse to vaccinate their children. Vaccination against measles is given at one year and at six years old. Of course, there may be medical contraindications, but mostly they are temporary. The disease itself leads to serious complications in 40% of cases,” the chief sanitary doctor urged.