Measles cases have surged 80% in a year, WHO warns
Joe Davies Health Reporter For Mailonline – 4h ago
Measles cases have jumped by 80 per cent in a year after vaccine uptake plunged during the pandemic and countries re-emerged from lockdowns.
There were 17,338 measles cases reported worldwide in January and February, up from 9,665 in the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said the immunisation gaps and return to social mixing in the wake of the pandemic was a ‘perfect storm’ for infection.
Ms Russell said: ‘Measles is more than a dangerous and potentially deadly disease.
‘It is also an early indication that there are gaps in our global immunisation coverage, gaps vulnerable children cannot afford.’
Measles cases have jumped by 80 per cent in a year, data from Unicef and the World Health Organization revealed today. Pictured: A child suffering with measles in Kabul, Afghanistan, last week
Measles cases have jumped by 80 per cent in a year, data from Unicef and the World Health Organization revealed today. Pictured: A child suffering with measles in Kabul, Afghanistan, last week
Child immunisation campaigns were knocked off course around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, and things have not fully recovered.
At the start of April, 58 campaigns in 43 countries were still postponed, impacting 212million people — mostly children.
Nineteen of those campaigns are for measles, putting 73million children at risk, Unicef and WHO said.
Top 5 countries with reported measles cases in the last 12 months
Country
Case rate per million
Somalia 554
Yemen 119
Afghanistan 91
Nigeria 58
Ethiopia 26
The five countries with the largest measles outbreaks in the last 12 months were Somalia, Liberia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Ivory Coast.
There have been 21 major outbreaks during that period.
Last month, Malawi reported its first polio case in decades while Pakistan, one of only two countries where polio remains endemic, recorded its first case for more than a year this month.
The WHO and Unicef said it was imperative to get the vaccination drives back on track.
Measles is a highly infectious respiratory virus, transmitted through coughs and touching surfaces covered with infected droplets.
Once it infects the lining of the nose and upper airways, the virus spreads into the blood and travels around the body.
This triggers its characteristic red-brown blotchy rash, which usually erupts around the head and neck first before spreading to the rest of the body.
The infection can lead to life threatening complications including pneumonia and swelling of the brain — or encephalitis.
Around one in 500 children who catch measles die from the infection. And one in five unvaccinated people who get infected are hospitalised.
Experts say children under five years, people over 20 years, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk from measles.
Since the measles vaccine became available in 1968, it is estimated that 20million cases and 4,500 deaths have been prevented in the UK alone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says 95 per cent of children need to be vaccinated to keep measles away.
Measles, its symptoms and how it is caught
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads easily from an infected person by coughing, sneezing or even just breathing.
Symptoms develop between six and 19 days after infection, and include a runny nose, cough, sore eyes, a fever and a rash.
The rash appears as red and blotchy marks on the hairline that travel down over several days, turning brown and eventually fading.
Some children complain of disliking bright lights or develop white spots with red backgrounds on their tongue.
In one in 15 cases, measles can cause life-threatening complications including pneumonia, convulsions and encephalitis.
Dr Ava Easton, chief executive of the Encephalitis Society told MailOnline: ‘Measles can be very serious. can cause encephalitis which is inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis can result in death or disability.’
Treatment focuses on staying hydrated, resting and taking painkillers, if necessary.
In England and Wales, though deaths from measles were uncommon, they averaged about 500 per year in the 1940s.
Deaths diminished with the improvement of medical care in the 1950s but the incidence of the disease did not retreat until vaccination was introduced in the late 1960s.
