According to the numbers presented this Wednesday by the World Health Organization y UNICEFduring the first two months of 2022, about 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide compared to 9,665 in the first two months of 2021.
Given this rapid increase in the disease and the high contagiousness of measles, the two agencies warned that cases tend to appear quickly when vaccination levels decline.
The drop was mainly due to three factors: the alterations caused by the pandemic, the increase in inequalities in access to vaccines and the diversion of resources.
At the same time, the two agencies expressed their concern that this situation might not become the prelude to other outbreaks that do not spread as quickly.
Other factors that could also contribute to a possible outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases are the displacement of millions of people by conflicts and crises, such as those of UkraineEthiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan, lack of clean water and sanitation and overcrowding.
© UNICEF/Mariame Diefaga
A child receives the measles vaccine in Impfondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Most cases are in Africa
However, the problem with childhood vaccination in some countries did not start last year. If we go back two yearsin 2020, some 23 million children did not receive the basic vaccination guidelines, the highest figure since 2009 and 3.7 million higher than those registered in 2019.
The two agencies reported that between the current month of April and last year there have been 21 major measles outbreaks around the world. Most measles cases were reported in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean region.
The countries with the largest measles outbreaks since last year are Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.. Insufficient measles vaccine coverage is the main reason for outbreaks, wherever they occur.
UNMISS/Tim McKulka
A measles vaccine.
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73 million children at risk of contracting measles
As of April 1, 57 vaccination campaigns against preventable diseases that were planned since the start of the pandemic are still postponed. This situation affects some 203 million people, most of them children.
Among the postponed operations, 19 correspond to campaigns against measles, which leaves 73 million children at risk of contracting the disease as they cannot be vaccinated.
As an example, the 2019 Ukrainian measles vaccination campaign was interrupted by the pandemic of COVID-19 and, later, due to the war.
Routine and recall campaigns are necessary wherever access is possible to help ensure that outbreaks such as those that occurred between 2017 and 2019, when there were more than 115,000 cases of measles, are not repeated and 41 deaths in the country, which was the highest incidence in Europe.
The two agencies remind that a coverage equivalent to or greater than 95% with two doses of the vaccine can protect children against this disease.
“Measles is more than just a dangerous and life-threatening disease. It is also a first indication that there are gaps in our global immunization coverage, gaps that vulnerable children cannot afford,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted immunization services, health systems have been overwhelmed, and we are now seeing a resurgence of deadly diseases like measles. For many other diseases, the repercussions of these disruptions to immunization services will be felt for decades,” said the director-general of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that “the time has come to resume” essential vaccination and launch reactivation campaigns “so that all people can access these vital vaccines.”
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