Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
------------------------------------------------------------
October 23, 2002
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"UN Probes Deaths in Afghan Whooping Cough Epidemic"
Reuters (www.reuters.com) (10/22/02)
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week that it is attempting to confirm reports that an epidemic of whooping cough in Afghanistan may have taken the lives of 140 people over the past week and a half. On Monday, Afghanistan's state-run media said that 100 people in the remote Koofab district of Badakhshan province had died from whooping cough; WHO information officer Loretta Heiber Girardet said her organization is still trying to assess reports of the outbreak. Badakhshan, located on the border with China and Tajikistan, is among the poorest and most isolated regions of the war-torn country.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.