Materia Medica Malaysiana

Nationwide campaign to immunise 4.5mil Malaysian children against measles

MORE than 4.5 million children in Malaysia are going to be immunised against measles over the next three months, a preventive measure against an impending outbreak of the disease

Health ministry officials say that based on recent trends, they expect an outbreak next year or in 2006. The last spike in the number of cases was in 1999, when 2,068 cases were recorded, resulting in 10 deaths.

To prevent a recurrence, schoolchildren between the ages of seven and 15 will be immunised with a combination vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella.

This is the first time that a national campaign is being carried out by the Health Ministry,