These figures, corresponding to last year compared to the previous one, indicate that the estimated number of measles infections amounts to nine million and the number of deaths stands at 136 thousand, most of them children.
This is stated in a new report from the United Nations health agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, which explains the growing threat that this viral disease represents for minors.
According to the text, 37 countries experienced large-scale and disturbing outbreaks last year, including 28 in the WHO Africa region, six in the Eastern Mediterranean, two in Southeast Asia and one in Europe.
The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is shocking, although, unfortunately, the decline in vaccination rates observed in recent years is not unexpected, said the director of the CDC’s Division of Global Immunization, John Vertefeuille. .
In this regard, he clarified that measles cases occur anywhere and pose a risk to all nations and communities where the population is insufficiently vaccinated, so it is important to act immediately with specific initiatives to prevent its spread and deaths. that provokes
Measles can be avoided with two doses of the vaccine, but in 2022 there were 33 million children without one of the two established: almost 22 million did not receive the first and another 11 million lacked the second.
The global immunization rate stood at 83 percent, far below the 95 percent needed to protect communities from outbreaks.
The WHO and CDC report found that low-income countries, where the risk of death from measles is highest, continue to have the worst vaccination rates, at just 66 percent, a percentage that shows no signs of recovery. after the setback suffered during the pandemic.
Of the 22 million minors who did not receive the first vaccine in 2022, more than half lived in just 10 countries: Angola, Brazil, Ethiopia, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
npg/crc
2023-11-16 22:55:00
#warned #increase #measles #due #vaccines #Prensa #Latina
