Health workers try to halt Iraq measles outbreak

GENEVA (Reuters) - Hundreds of health workers are in Iraq's Anbar province to vaccinate 200,000 children against measles in a bid to contain an outbreak which has already struck 100 children, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

The 10-day campaign, begun on Sunday, aims to protect children against the highly-contagious disease which can cause complications including blindness, encephalitis (a brain infection) and pneumonia, it said.

"Nearly 600 vaccinators are taking part in the house-to-house drive and they are determined to reach every child under age five who missed routine vaccinations," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva.

Fighting and insecurity in the past 3 years have isolated the western province from the rest of the country, eroding its routine health services and leading to a serious drop in vaccine coverage, according to the United Nations health agency.

Only one in four infants in Anbar had received the measles vaccine at the end of 2007, it said.

The vaccination, which costs about 33 U.S. cents per dose including the syringe, will also offer protection against two other childhood diseases, mumps and rubella.

The campaign, being carried out by the health ministry, WHO and UNICEF, is being funded by the European Commission.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Matthew Jones)