The measles cases in Europe reached a record last year for the last 25 years, and Romania was the most affected country: it registered 13,000 of the approximately 18,000 cases registered between June 2024 and May 2025 in the European Economic Area. The epidemiologist Daniela Gafița went to the isolated villages in northeastern Romania, in the hope of educating the communities regarding the risks of the measles. She frequently encountered parents who hesitate to vaccinate their children.
Romania has the lowest vaccination rate against measles in the EU photo archive
The measles cases in Europe reached a record last year in the last 25 years, and Romania was the most affected country: it registered 13,000 of the approximately 18,000 cases registered between June 2024 and May 2025 in the European Economic Area, which includes EU members, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, notes France 24.
The disease has also reappeared globally, with the United States facing the worst epidemic of the last 30 years, partially fueled by the anti-vaccination misinformation that has circulated on social networks from the Covid-19 Pandemic.
In the first line: the campaign to convince an epidemiologist
Despite the widespread skepticism compared to vaccines in Romania, the epidemiologist Daniela Gafița and her colleagues from the local health department are not discouraged in their mission to spread the message of immunization.
“We try to recover a little bit what we lost In recent decades when the situation was still under control“said the 52 -year -old woman.
Romania has the lowest vaccination rate in the EU, 62%, far from 95%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is required for efficient control.
The epidemic that reappears old trauma
It is a fight on several fronts, not only because of poverty, but also limited access to medical assistance and persistent rumors that vaccination causes autism.
“I heard that the vaccine is dangerous ”said a woman, who refused to give her name, in the village of Răucești.
Elena Armenia, who also lives in the village with 7,500 inhabitants, told AFP that she does not want her youngest child to be vaccinated after reading online “About a connection with autism”a misconception that has been denied by the scientific community.
“Fear meentered the mind and I can’t
remove“said the 34 -year -old woman.
The children of her neighbors recently arrived at the hospital after they have contracted measles, a contagious disease that causes fever, respiratory symptoms and rashes – but can also lead to pneumonia, brain inflammation and even death.
Romania reported eight deaths caused by measles, between June 2024 and May 2025. In July, a child died in the UK, and three deaths were registered in the United States this year.
Family doctor Monica Apostol told AFP that she is less optimistic than some of her colleagues about the increase of the vaccination rate in Romania.
“I hit a wall ”she said about the many conversations with her parents.
Antivaccinism, a political vector
Several factors have contributed to the decrease of vaccination rates and, subsequently, to the reappearance of measles in Romania, where the vaccines are offered free, but they are not mandatory.
Millions of Romanians, including many health professionals, left the country after the end of communism in 1989. Moreover, the country has experienced periods of vaccines, but also an underfilled health system and an increasing lack of trust in the authorities.
The anti-vaccinist current has taken shape in Romania since 2008, with the failure of the campaign for anti-HPV vaccination. At that time, the Orthodox Church, along with other cults, fueled the fear that the vaccine would lead to infertility.
During the Covid Pandemic, public personalities from Romania, but also from all over the world, began to launch or support anti-vaccination campaigns, US President Donald Trump, appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health Secretary, despite his support for anti-vaccination conspiracy theories.
The far right in Romania also took advantage of the anger against the strict pandemic measures and began to promote anti-vaccination beliefs.
The leader of the extreme right, George Simion, who was at the forefront of the first tour of the presidential elections in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before losing in the second round, said that parents should have the freedom to decide whether to vaccinate their children or not.
Pro-European President Nicușor Dan recently asked the authorities to intensify their efforts to “regain people’s confidence” and to combat a flood of conspiracy and false news that eroded confidence.
“Recent choices have shown that misinformation campaigns are led in an extremely professional way ”, said Gindrovel Dumitra, coordinator for vaccinations at one of the main associations of doctors in Romania.
Faced with a “out of control” situation, his colleague advocates for harsher rules at national level, including the need to vaccinate children to go to school.
“Even if such measures are unpopular and contrary to what many people want ”she said.
Vaccination rate, well below the safety threshold
The World Health Organization recommends a vaccine coverage of over 95% to avoid the recurrence of measles. Romania is far away: 78% of children between 9 and 11 months received the first dose of ROR, and only 62% received the second.
In some counties, such as Arad, Satu Mare, Suceava or Neamț, the coverage is below 50%. This reality contradicts the hopes of the authorities, who announced in September 2024 that the epidemic ended. In fact, the data shows an accelerated continuation of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
A pretentable but fatal disease
Rujeola is one of the most contagious known viral diseases. Although often underestimated, it can lead to severe complications: pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, or even death.
Survivors can remain vulnerable to other infections, with long -term debilitating effects. And all this can be prevented with two doses of vaccine, safe and free.
The World Health Organization estimates that, between 2000 and 2023, measles vaccination saved the lives of 60 million people. In Romania, however, most children die of a simply prevented disease.
The need for clear rules – proposal for radical solutions
Epidemiologist Daniela Gafița pleads for firmer measures:
“Clear rules are needed, for example that vaccination become a condition for enrollment at school. Even if such measures are unpopular, they save lives.”
At the same time, Romanians are going to see, as soon as possible, new messages of public interest in vaccination, on the TV screens.
The message “Vaccination prevents serious diseases. Vaccination is essential for the health of your child” was designed by Ana Măiță, the president of the “Mother for Mothers” Association, even before Pandemic, notes Free Europe.
She hopes that by repetition, the message will lead to awareness that vaccination is important, as was the message on breastfeeding.
“If we do nothing as a state, the situation will worsen. We see that we have 30% the vaccination rate of children in the north of the country, where the Protestant Churches are very influential ”.
Contrary to anti-vaccine currents, Ana Măiță believes that
“Vaccination is eventually a political decision.”
