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Measles, the preventable but highly infectious disease, may be about to return after a lull in the months immediately following the emergence of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. US Disease Prevention.
Calling measles an “imminent threat in all regions of the world,” the two public health agencies said in a report that nearly 40 million children missed vaccine doses last year. They said 25 million children missed their first dose, while an additional 14.7 million children missed their second shot, marking a record for vaccine misses.
The number of measles infections has declined over the past two decades, although it remains a deadly threat, particularly to unvaccinated young children in the developing world. But there were an estimated 9 million cases and 128,000 deaths worldwide last year, up from 7.5 million cases and 60,700 in 2020. This increase came amid campaigns by vaccines and poorer disease surveillance that was delayed by the pandemic, WHO and CDC said.
Vaccination can also bring benefits to the community, a concept known as herd immunity. About 95 percent of a population needs to be vaccinated with two doses for herd immunity to occur, but only about 81 percent of children worldwide have received their first dose and 71 percent the second, said the two bodies.
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Measles, which begins with cold-like symptoms, undermines the immune system, making those infected more susceptible to other illnesses. Seizures and blindness are possible in some cases, according to Britain’s National Health Service.
The WHO previously warned that the drop in measles infections early in the pandemic was the “calm before the storm”.
“Routine immunization must be protected and strengthened” despite the coronavirus, Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals, said last year. Otherwise, “we risk exchanging one deadly disease for another.”
Hur Jian, an infectious disease expert at South Korea’s Yeungnam University Medical Center, said the recent uptick in global travel portends a likely return of measles even in rich countries with higher vaccine coverage. Younger generations who have had less exposure to the disease may have weaker defenses, he added.
The United States declared measles eradication, defined as no transmission for one year and a well-functioning surveillance system, in 2000, but occasional outbreaks still occur. More than 50 cases have been detected in the United States this year, according to the CDC.
Erin Blakemore contributed to this report.