Measles: Rapid increase in cases worldwide due to reduced vaccinations

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Measles cases increased by almost 80% worldwide in the first two months of the year, the World Health Organization and Unicef ​​announced today, Wednesday.

The WHO has repeatedly said in recent months that there was a risk of “utter disaster” if the dangerous delay in vaccinating children due to the Covid-19 pandemic continued and if health restrictions were lifted too quickly.

Compared to the corresponding period of 2021, measles cases increased by 79% in the first two months of 2022. In January and February, a total of 17,338 infections were recorded, from 9,665 in the same period last year.

Measles is a very contagious disease that can be eliminated very dangerous for young children and infants. It is transmitted faster than Ebola, the flu or Covid-19.

Unicef ​​executive director Kathryn Russell said the gap in vaccinations combined with a return to normal social contact after the pandemic was “the perfect storm”. “Measles is more than just a dangerous and potentially deadly disease. “It’s the first indication that there are gaps in global vaccination coverage, gaps that vulnerable children cannot address.”
The five countries with the most cases in the last 12 months were Somalia, Liberia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Ivory Coast.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination campaigns went off schedule and the situation has not yet fully normalized. At the beginning of April, 58 campaigns in 43 countries were still postponed, affecting 212 million people, mostly young children. 19 of these campaigns involved measles, according to Unicef ​​and the WHO.

Problems also arose in vaccination campaigns for other diseases, as for typhus and polio. Last month, Malawi announced that it had identified the first case of polio in decades. Pakistan, one of two countries where polio remains endemic, also announced this month the first case in more than a year.

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