A new report from global health authorities has warned about the rise of measles after a high number of cases in 2024.
Europe saw the highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years in 2024, with more than 120,000 cases reported in the region.
That figure was double the number of cases in 2023, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
Measles cases in the European region, which includes parts of Central Asia, have been “generally declining” in Europe since a peak in 1997 with 216,000 cases, WHO and UNICEF said. There was a low of 4,440 cases in 2016.
UNICEF said that about 40 per cent of measles infections in Europe and Central Asia were in children under 5 and that more than half of all people sickened by measles had to be hospitalised.
Measles is among the world’s most infectious diseases and is spread by an airborne virus.
Two doses of the measles vaccine are estimated to be 97 per cent effective in preventing the disease, which typically infects the respiratory system and causes symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose, and a rash.
In serious cases, measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration, and blindness.
“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call,” Dr Hans Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, said in a statement. “Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security,” he added.
Romania had the most measles infections, at more than 30,000, followed by Kazakhstan, which reported 28,147 people with measles.
WHO and UNICEF noted that in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, fewer than 70 per cent and 50 per cent of children in those countries respectively have been vaccinated against measles for at least the past five years.
Importance of high levels of vaccination
Scientists estimate that more than 95 per cent of the population needs to be immunised to prevent outbreaks.
“Measles is pretty much completely vaccine-preventable. Two doses of the measles vaccines prevent infection, illness, and thus transmission,” said Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in the UK.
“With a high global uptake, the world could eradicate this disease. However, measles is incredibly infectious, more so than for example the COVID-19 variants. With even slight declines in vaccine uptake, outbreaks are inevitable,” he added in a statement.
After a drop in immunisation coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, measles cases surged in 2023 and 2024, with vaccination rates in numerous countries still lower than what they were before COVID-19 hit.
One Response