195 dead so far this year in Malawi due to measles

Malawi is experiencing what is being described as its worst measles outbreak in a decade. Since January of 2010, 77,000 measles infection cases have been reported, and 195 lives have been lost to this vaccine preventable disease. A massive vaccination campaign, at 4.2-million-dollar (3.3-million-euro) to vaccinate six million children, is being planned and implemented. Hopefully that will bring the infection under control quickly and successfully, as the polio campaign succeeded in doing in Tajikistan. We will keep an eye out for further developments.