2024-01-25T13:19:12+00:00
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The European branch of the World Health Organization warned that the number of measles cases in Europe has increased significantly in 2023 compared to a year ago, calling for intensified vaccination efforts.
Statistics published by the World Health Organization showed that 42,200 cases were recorded in 2023 in 41 of the 53 member states in the region extending to Central Asia, about 45 times more than in 2022, during which 941 cases were reported.
Kazakhstan and Russia are the countries most affected by the disease, with more than 10,000 cases each. In Western Europe, the most noticeable resurgence of the disease has been in the United Kingdom, where 183 cases have been recorded.
During the first ten months of 2023, the period covered by the WHO analysis, the increase was 30 times compared to the same period in 2022.
Measles cases increase 30-fold
“Not only has there been a 30-fold increase in measles cases in the region,” WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge was quoted as saying in a statement, “there have also been nearly 21,000 hospitalizations and five measles-related deaths. This is alarming.”
He said, “Urgent vaccination efforts are needed to stop the transmission of the infection and prevent its spread.”
The resurgence of this highly contagious viral disease, which can cause fatal complications and is spread through the air, is attributed to low vaccination coverage during the coronavirus years.
The organization explained that “the Covid-19 pandemic had a major impact on the performance of the vaccination system during this period, leading to an accumulation of unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated children.”
The World Health Organization, which is calling for intensified campaigns to raise awareness among unvaccinated communities, reported that more than 1.8 million infants in the region were not vaccinated against measles between 2020 and 2022.
This disease, which manifests itself in a rash preceded by rhinitis, conjunctivitis, cough, high fever and extreme fatigue, can affect all age groups.
But in 2023, two out of every five cases involved children between the ages of one and four, while the proportion of cases among those over the age of 20 was one in five.
At the national level, at least 95% of children need to be vaccinated to avoid outbreaks. By 2022, only 92% of European children had received a second dose of the vaccine.