MEASLES OUTBREAK IN TOKYO

UNCLAS TOKYO 002325 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/J HYAMS AND WEBSTER AND OES/IHA DEPT PASS TO WHITE HOUSE OSTP DEPT PASS TO NIH/NIAID WESTERN DEPT PASS TO CDC/NICID DEPT PASS TO USDA HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER AND BHAT SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMED EAGR TBIO JA SUBJECT: MEASLES OUTBREAK IN TOKYO REF: 06 TOKYO 3245 ¶1. Summary. According to Japan's Infectious Disease Surveillance Center (IDSC),an outbreak of measles cases has been reported in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo, affecting young adults in particular. Some universities and high schools have cancelled classes in order to halt the further spread of the disease. IDSC has issued a warning to the public that the measles are spreading in the Kanto region and is recommending vaccination to those who have not been inoculated. End summary. ¶2. An investigation by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper has revealed that 221 students were infected with measles as of May 21 in seven Tokyo-area universities with around 150,000 students. 279 cases have also been reported in 104 Tokyo Metropolitan high schools as of May ¶18. These universities and high schools have decided to close for a certain period. ¶3. Dr. Nobuhiko Okabe, Director of the IDSC, commented that measles may be spreading among those in their teens and twenties because this age group, inoculated against measles in childhood, has since had little exposure to the measles virus and their original immunity may have been weakened. Newspapers have cited some doctors as saying that some of those their teens and twenties were not vaccinated as children due to concern about side effects of the MMR vaccine in the late 1980s. ¶4. In response to concerns of the shortage of the vaccine stockpile, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has requested medical institutions to purchase the appropriate number of doses. As of May 18, 80,000 doses have been stockpiled, but 30,000 doses were distributed on just three days from May 16 to 18. SCHIEFFER