On Tuesday, the 23rd of January, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe Office warned that there were 30 times more measles cases in the first ten months of 2023 than the year before and called on countries to urgently carry out vaccination campaigns, reports Politico.
The WHO believes that the resurgence of the highly contagious measles virus is linked to declining vaccination rates. The virus causes fever, cough, and in rare cases pneumonia, brain inflammation and death.
WHO had recorded more than 30 000 measles cases in the Europe between January and October 2023,
compared to 941 cases in 2022. According to the WHO, cases have increased in recent months and are expected to continue unless immediate action is taken.
According to Politico, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, had stressed the urgency of vaccination to stop the spread of measles and prevent it from spreading further.
He noted that it is important that all countries are prepared to rapidly identify and respond to measles cases, as they threaten the progress that has been made towards measles elimination.
The WHO has reported that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, routine childhood immunisation was suspended from 2020 to 2022. As a result, more than 1.8 million infants were not vaccinated against measles during this period, highlighting that measles cases were
recorded in countries where the disease had previously been officially declared eliminated,
said WHO.
For example, last week the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) declared a national health emergency due to a rise in measles cases across the country, with the country’s National Health Service launching a widespread vaccination campaign on Monday, according to Politico.
Also read: WHO sees “incredibly low” Covid, flu vaccination rates amid rising cases
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