Thirty-fold more measles cases recorded in Europe between January and October 2023 compared to 2022warned today World Health Organisation which calls for the vaccination campaign to be intensified.

“Between January and October 2023, more than 30,000 cases were recorded from 40 of the 53 countries in the regions”, which extends to central Asia, the UN agency announced.

In 2022, 941 cases were recorded.

Kazakhstan and Russia are the worst affected countries with more than 10,000 cases each. With 183 cases, the UK is the western European country where the resurgence of the disease, which was thought to have been eliminated in 2021, is the clearest.

“We found in the region not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalizations and five deaths attributable to measles. It is alarming,” said WHO regional director Hans Kluge, who was quoted in the statement. “Urgent vaccination efforts are needed to stop transmission and prevent the spread“.

The re-emergence of this highly contagious viral disease, which can cause life-threatening complications and is airborne, is attributed to the decline in vaccination coverage during the Covid years.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the performance of the vaccination system during this period, leading to an accumulation of unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated children.”.

More than 1.8 million infants were not vaccinated against measles between 2020 and 2022, according to the WHO, which is calling for intensified awareness campaigns in unvaccinated communities.

Locally, it is important that at least 95% of children are vaccinated to avoid possible outbreaks when the virus is introduced.

In 2022, only 92% of children in Europe had received the second dose of the vaccine.