Epidemiology of measles

Akdeniz University in the Mediterranean city of Antalya is on alert as nine students have been confirmed to have contracted measles. 

The director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Nis, Miodrag Vrbic, confirmed this.

According to Vrbic, the woman, who is the 11th victim, did not suffer from any chronic diseases before contracting measles.

The child, who was not vaccinated against measles and who developed pneumonia, is officially the sixth victim of the infectious disease.

There have been 2,896 cases of measles in central Serbia and in Serb municipalities in Kosovo since October, with 1,448 cases confirmed in Torlak Institute's laboratories.

The youngest patient was 15 days old, while the oldest was 65.

The measles outbreak in Greece is showing no signs of slowing down, with the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO) saying Thursday that there have been 1,829 recorded cases since last May.

The center said the number of cases doubled in the first two months of the year, compared to 922 reported in late December.

Outbreaks of measles increased 400% in Europe last year, with the World Health Organization (WHO) warning the highly contagious virus has regained a foothold due to immunization decline and vaccine supply problems.

European officials said on Tuesday that the spike in the number of measles cases in Europe was due to epidemics in Romania, Italy, Germany and Greece.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 14,400 cases were reported by 30 countries last year - compared with about 4,600 cases the year before.

A measles outbreak which began last May is showing no sign of abating, with Greece's union of public hospital workers (POEDIN) on Tuesday announcing three new cases, bringing the total number recorded close to 1,200.

A measles epidemic that started in May shows no sign of abating after the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO) reported 267 new cases from November 30 to December 21, 91 of which were recorded in the past week alone.

A 20-year-old man from Belgrade has died in a hospital's intensive care unit from complications caused by measles, RTS is reporting.

He is the first victim of measles in Serbia. The patient had not been inoculated against the infectious disease.

A second person has died from measles in Greece this year. It was revealed that a 17-year-old boy died at the University Hospital in Rio, near the western port city of Patra, last Friday.

The youngster suffered a brain inflammation after contracting the disease from members of his family.

He had not been vaccinated.