Finland’s health authority has urged passengers who travelled on two ferry services between Åland and Sweden to check their measles protection after a person with the infection travelled on both routes.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, THL, said the passenger travelled from Mariehamn to Stockholm aboard Viking Glory on 13 August. The vessel, operating on the Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm route, departed Mariehamn at 14.25.
The same person later travelled with Eckerö Linjen from Grisslehamn in Sweden to Eckerö in Åland on 15 August. That service departed at 20.00.
THL said the infected passenger had received a measles vaccine, which reduces the risk of further transmission. The authority assesses the infection risk for other ferry passengers as low.
“A vaccinated person can also contract measles if the exposure is intense, but the disease is then milder and the risk of further infections is low,” THL development director Mia Kontio said in the agency’s statement.
The case has a link to the Urkult music festival, held in Sweden’s Västernorrland County from 30 July to 1 August.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency had recorded 24 measles cases linked to the festival across Sweden by 20 August. Most of those infected in connection with the event had not received vaccinations, according to the authorities. Many of the cases involved children.
THL has asked people who travelled on the affected ferry services, as well as those who attended Urkult, to check their own measles protection and that of family members.
Two previous doses of a measles or MMR vaccine provide protection against the disease, according to THL. People who have previously had measles do not require vaccination. Finland provides the MMR vaccine without charge under its national vaccination programme. The vaccine also protects against mumps and rubella.
People whose vaccination protection remains incomplete should contact their local health centre about receiving the missing dose. THL has also asked parents of unvaccinated children, unvaccinated adults, unvaccinated pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems to contact healthcare services for an assessment.
Passengers should monitor their health for three weeks after the journeys. Anyone who develops symptoms consistent with measles should contact a health centre by telephone before visiting the facility, THL said.
Early symptoms include a high fever, respiratory symptoms and inflammation of the eyes. A rash usually develops three to five days after the fever begins and lasts for more than a week.
Measles spreads through the air and ranks among the most infectious diseases. A person with measles is infectious for four days before the rash appears and for four days after its onset.
THL said measles poses a risk of serious illness at any age, with people who have weakened immune systems facing a higher risk of severe disease.
Åland’s health authorities will issue separate information if they identify other possible exposure to measles in the region.
HT