GENEVA (dpa-AFX) – According to the Measles and Rubella Initiative, the corona crisis could also affect the fight against measles. More than 117 million children in 37 countries could miss a vaccine against the highly contagious infectious disease, said the initiative, which is supported by, among others, the World Health Organization (WHO), Unicef and the American Red Cross. There are already problems with vaccination campaigns in 24 countries. The measles and rubella initiative is therefore calling on the states to step up their vaccine follow-up “so that the most vulnerable of the population can get a measles vaccine as soon as this is possible again.”
The WHO recommends considering the risks and temporarily suspending vaccination campaigns where there are currently no active outbreaks of the relevant diseases. The measles and rubella initiative supports this recommendation. “At the same time, we are pressing for countries to continue their routine vaccination services while ensuring the safety of communities and health workers.”
According to an estimate by the WHO, more than 140,000 people died of measles in 2018. In addition, according to the UN organization, there were an estimated 9.8 million measles cases. The situation in the Congo was particularly problematic recently.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 528 measles cases were counted in Germany in 2018. The number fluctuates strongly in Germany from year to year. According to the RKI, there were between 165 and 2465 cases per year in the ten years to 2018./nif/DP/mis
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