Measles causes Oslo to call for emergency visitors

Measles causes Oslo to call for emergency visitors
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full screen The infection has been discovered at the emergency department, Legevakten. Archive image. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas/NTB/TT

Norway’s capital is now trying to find everyone who was in Oslo’s emergency department on Wednesday, after a case of measles was confirmed.

“It is about 144 patients plus relatives who stayed in the premises in question”, writes the municipality of Oslo when it is now trying to track and follow the infection.

The confirmed case is a patient at Legevakten, Oslo’s large emergency department at Aker Hospital.

Single cases have also been discovered in Sweden during the summer.

Measles is highly contagious and was previously a classic childhood disease, but is uncommon since vaccinations started in the 1970s and measles vaccine in Sweden was introduced in the general vaccination program in 1982.

In principle, everyone born before 1960 has had the disease and thus has lifelong protection.

The symptoms are high fever, dry cough, irritated eyes and rash. Complications such as pneumonia are common, one in 1,000 get a serious encephalitis.

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