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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Andrei Popoviciu in Săcele and Bucharest

‘It’s a powder keg’: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapse

Nurses walk around the paediatric ward at the National Infectious Disease Institute in Bucharest.
Nurses walk around the paediatric ward at the National Infectious Disease Institute in Bucharest. Photograph: Guy Peterson/The Guardian

By 10am on a spring day, the corridor of the clinic in the Transylvanian town of Săcele was already crowded with parents and children. They were all waiting to see Dr Mirela Csabai, one of just seven general practitioners serving a population of more than 30,000.

Most of the cases that morning were routine: colds, checkups, chronic conditions. The calm, however, is recent. In 2024, a measles epidemic tore through this community and left one unvaccinated toddler dead.

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