There were more measles cases in 2019 than in the past 23 years. Last year, 207,500 people died from the preventable disease.
Measles has been on the rise for some time, but according to the most recent figures, the number of reported cases in 2019 was the highest in 23 years. According to a report The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 869,770 measles cases worldwide last year, the highest number since 1996. The global number of measles victims has increased by nearly 50 percent since 2016. . Last year, 207,500 people, especially children, died from this contagious infectious disease.
Progress to 2016
There was a steady improvement from 2010 to 2016, but after that it went downhill again worldwide and more measles cases were gradually reported.
The authors of the report see that children were not vaccinated on time with two doses of measles-containing vaccines, the main cause of the increase.
“We know how to prevent measles outbreaks and deaths,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director general. ‘These figures are a clear signal that we are failing to protect children from measles in all regions of the world. We need to work collectively, support countries and involve communities so that the measles vaccine reaches everyone and we can stop this deadly virus. ‘
Measles outbreaks occur when people who are not protected from the virus become infected and spread the disease to unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated populations. To control measles and prevent outbreaks and deaths, the vaccination rate must be 95 percent.
Corona
This year, the corona crisis has led to planned vaccination schedules becoming (temporary) shut down.
Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF said: “While health systems are under pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot allow our fight against one deadly disease to be at the expense of our fight against another. This means ensuring that we have the resources to continue vaccination campaigns for all preventable diseases, including as we tackle the growing Covid-19 pandemic. ”
Measles has been on the rise for some time, but according to the most recent figures, the number of reported cases in 2019 was the highest in 23 years. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 869,770 measles cases worldwide last year, the highest number since 1996. The worldwide number of measles victims has thus been nearly 50 percent up. Last year, 207,500 people, mostly children, died from this contagious infectious disease. There was a steady improvement from 2010 to 2016, but since then it went downhill again worldwide and gradually more measles cases were reported. The authors of the report note that the fact that children were not vaccinated on time with two doses of measles-containing vaccines, the main cause of the increase. “We know how to prevent measles outbreaks and deaths,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general . ‘These figures are a clear signal that we are failing to protect children from measles in all regions of the world. We need to work collectively, support countries and engage communities so that the measles vaccine reaches everyone and we can stop this deadly virus. ” Measles outbreaks occur when people who are not protected from the virus become infected and spread the disease to unvaccinated or inadequate vaccinated populations. In order to control measles and prevent outbreaks and deaths, vaccination coverage must reach 95 percent, and this year the corona crisis has led to planned vaccination schedules being (temporarily) shut down, Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said: Under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic, we must not allow our fight against one deadly disease to be at the expense of our fight against another. This means ensuring that we have the resources to continue vaccination campaigns for all preventable diseases, including as we tackle the growing Covid-19 pandemic. ”
–
