Some 17 children in The Hague have been diagnosed with measles in what the regional health board says is a local outbreak. All 17 infections are connected.

Last week local officials said 10 children, all in the city centre, had been infected but this has now gone up by a further seven. The infections have been spread via social contacts, including school and daycare, officials say.

Parents connected to the affected schools and playschools have been informed about the outbreak by the health board and they have all been offered the opportunity to vaccinate any children who have not been protected.

On Wednesday the public health institute RIVM said 105 cases of measles have been reported so far this year, including 25 over the past month.

Vaccinations

The RIVM said earlier in June that the vaccination rate among children over the age of nine continues to fall, and the trend is worrying. The take-up rate for the MMR jab for mumps, measles, and rubella has gone down to 78.5% among older children.

But there has been no further decline in the vaccination rate among babies since the RIVM sounded the alarm last year, the government agency said.

In fact coverage for the MMR vaccination (mumps, measles and rubella) and for the vaccination against meningococcal disease types A, C, W and Y may even have increased.

The World Health Organisation considers 90% to be safe, but the RIVM takes 95% as its target.