Millions of babies worldwide have lost the first dose of measles vaccine due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, according to a new report published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR ) of the CDC in the USA.
The Doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Stavroula Pashou (Assistant Professor of Endocrinology), Theodora Psaltopoulou (Professor of Therapeutic-Preventive Medicine) and Thanos Dimopoulos (Professor of Therapeutic-Hematology-Oncology and Rector of EKPA) summarize the points in this report.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, global medical efforts against measles made significant progress with estimated coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine increasing from 72% to 84% between 2000 and 2010 and peaking in 2019 at 86%. In the last 2 decades, the report says, the estimated number of measles deaths has dropped from about 1,000,000 in 2000 to less than 61,000 in 2020. In total, more than 30,000,000 deaths have been prevented by measles vaccination during this period. of the period. It should be noted that at least 95% coverage with 2 doses of vaccine is required to ensure and maintain a high level of immunity of the population against measles, which is one of the most contagious diseases.
First-dose coverage dropped to 84% in 2020 during the pandemic, while only 70% of children received the second dose. A total of 62 countries had at least 90% coverage with the first dose in 2019, which was reduced to 39 countries in 2020. In total, it was found that more than 22,000,000 infants missed the first dose of the vaccine in 2020, ie 3,000,000 more than in 2019 Interestingly, in 2020 the reported number of measles cases decreased by 80% compared to 2019, from 873,022 cases in 2019 to 1497.96 in 2020. However, the CDC and the WHO warn that the lowest number of reported cases is completely misleading. It may be due to the increased immunity from previous years, to the use of measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, such as mask, distances or both. Also, cases may simply have been under-reported due to reduced patient health care seeking or reduced health service availability.
In conclusion, the recent increase in missed measles vaccinations is the largest in the last 2 decades, creating dangerous conditions for outbreaks. Immediate action is needed to strengthen other infectious disease surveillance systems and fill potential immunity gaps before the global community can return to pre-pandemic levels of travel and trade.
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