Last year, the number of reports of diseases that are vaccinated against within the National Vaccination Program decreased. This is very likely due to the corona measures, such as keeping your distance, washing hands and traveling less.
The number of reports decreased in particular for whooping cough, mumps, pneumococcal disease and measles. For whooping cough there was a decrease of 85 percent. For measles, there were only two reports last year, while there were 84 reports the year before.
The number of reports of chronic hepatitis B fell by about a third compared to a year earlier. The latter is probably not a real decline. Due to the corona pandemic, people have visited a doctor less often, which means that less has been tested for hepatitis B, among other things.
The only exception in terms of decreases was Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). This is a bacterium that can be found in the nasal cavity of almost all people. Last year the number of reports rose to 68, while in 2019 there were only 39 reports. RIVM is investigating what could be the cause of this.
Rubella and Polio
Furthermore, in 2020 there were again no reports of rubella and polio. There were three patients with diphtheria and two with tetanus. The number of reports of meningococcal disease also fell further after the addition of this vaccination to the National Immunization Program in 2018.
Vaccinating children against infectious diseases has been gaining popularity again since 2020. The national vaccination rate in the Netherlands increased for the first time in five years in almost all age groups last year. In particular, the vaccination of infants against mumps, measles and rubella (+0.7 percent) and against meningococci (+0.6 percent) and the vaccination of adolescent girls against HPV (+7.5 percent) – a virus that causes cervical cancer in the elevator.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
#Infectious #diseases #chance #due #corona #measures