Measles surging worldwide, highest number of cases in 23 years
Posted November 12, 2020 10:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
New numbers suggest measles is making a comeback.
According to the World Health Organization and the United States Center for Disease Control, last years numbers show case counts of the highly contagious disease have reached their highest point in 23 years.
In a study published on Thursday, both organizations say there were nearly 870,000 cases and around 207,000 deaths. The numbers of deaths has increased by almost 50% since 2016.
WHO says that although reported cases of measles are lower in 2020, efforts to control COVID-19 have resulted in disruptions in vaccination and undermined the efforts to prevent measles outbreaks.
“Before there was a coronavirus crisis, the world was grappling with a measles crisis, and it has not gone away,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
Measles typically affects children under the age of five. Children need to receive two doses of the vaccine to become immune and avoid getting infected with the contagious disease.
WHO is pinning the rise in measles cases on a significant drop in vaccinations. They say that 95 per cent of a population needs to be immune in order to prevent outbreaks from occurring.
The per cent of the world’s population that is currently vaccinated lies somewhere between 70 and 85 per cent, well below the required amount to stop the spread.
Over 95 per cent of Measles deaths occur developing countries but the disease regularly causes significant outbreaks in Europe each year.
