There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions of the world, as Covid-19 caused a decrease in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization said Wednesday (WHO) and the United States Public Health Agency.
Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable with vaccination. However, it requires coverage of the 95% of the population to avoid outbreaks.
A record of almost 40 million children did not receive a dose of the measles vaccine in 2021 due to obstacles created by the Covid pandemic, the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a joint report.
While measles cases have yet to rise dramatically compared to previous years, now is the time to act, WHO measles chief Patrick O’Connor told Reuters.
“We are at a crossroads,” he said Tuesday. “It’s going to be a very challenging 12 to 24 months trying to mitigate it.”
A combination of factors – such as persistent social distancing measures and the cyclical nature of measles – may explain why there has not yet been an explosion of cases despite the widening immunity gapsbut that could change quickly, said O’Connor, noting its contagiousness.
The WHO has already seen a rise in disruptive outbreaks since early 2022, rising from 19 to almost 30 in September, O’Connor said, adding that he was particularly concerned about parts of sub-Saharan Africa. (Reporting by Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru and Jennifer Rigby in London Edited in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)
