Mumps incidence soaring

With about 100 new cases of mumps reported daily, Chisinau authorities grow increasingly concerned. According to Iurie Panzari, head of the Municipal Centre for Preventive Medicine, the incidence of infectious parotitis is expected to peak in mid-February, as the central authorities will fail to provide the needed amount of mumps shots, Info-Prim Neo reports. Panzari told today a City Hall meeting that the municipality will have to find more beds for mumps patients in Chisinau hospitals. Mihai Moldovan, head of the Healthcare Division, informed that over the past week alone, there were detected 417 new cases; 174 persons required inpatient care. To cope with the large number of infected persons, the authorities opened today a new specialised ward for mumps patients at the National Narcotics Rehabilitation Centre. As Moldovan reported, at a recent meeting held by the Ministry of Health, it was decided that the mumps shots will be purchased from funds provided by the State Budget. A contractor to import them from Russia will be appointed in a couple of days. In this case, the municipality’s financial contribution will not be needed. However, the city authorities could contribute syringes, ethylic alcohol, or whatever the immunisation centres will need. Earlier Mihai Moldovan has said the city needs 120,000 vaccines, and namely measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shots, to immunise young persons aged between 15 and 29 years, who hadn’t been included in vaccination lists before. Dr. Moldovan considers that if shots against mumps only are preferred over MMR vaccines, in five years we could see rubella and measles breaking out in the country. According to him, the Ministry of Health needs some 8 million lei to purchase shots for the entire country.