No measles cases recorded in north

There are no cases of measles in the north, ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek said on Thursday night.

Dincyurek was speaking after a total of six cases of measles were detected in the state-controlled areas since the beginning of the year, the most recent of which was a 15-year-old girl who was admitted to hospital in Limassol.

He added that “it is important to vaccinate all children at the recommended times, so children’s health and society can be protected.”

He said the “only way to prevent measles” is through vaccination, and that the increased spread of the disease in recent years has come about due to the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-vaccination movements, and wars in the world.

The measles vaccine is commonly given to young children in two doses while aged between one and four years old, with the north also running a programme to vaccine primary school students against measles should they have not been vaccinated earlier.

Earlier this month, the Makarios hospital’s paediatric department director Avraam Ilias said measles vaccine uptake in Cyprus is “somewhat low” at around 80 per cent, and that for the general population to be protected against the disease, vaccination coverage must reach 95 per cent.