Global measles cases to rise 20% by 2023 due to 'inadequate' vaccine use – National

Measles cases rose 20% last year, due to a lack of vaccine coverage in the world's poorest countries and those embroiled in conflict, the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Thursday.

Nearly half of all major and disruptive outbreaks occurred in the African region, where deaths increased by 37%, they said.

“Right now, every country in the world has access to the measles vaccine, so there is no reason why any child should be infected with the disease and no child should die from measles,” said WHO's Natasha Crowcroft, a senior technical advisor on measles and measles. Rubella, told reporters.

Measles is caused by an airborne virus that mainly affects children under the age of five, but it can be prevented with two doses of the measles shot. However, immunization coverage was “insufficient” worldwide, the WHO and CDC said.

About 10.3 million cases of the highly contagious infection were reported in 2023, compared with 8.65 million in the previous year, a report from the two agencies showed.

Deaths from the disease fell by 8% to 107,500 due to improved access to health services and vaccines in high-income countries such as Europe, where cases soared last year.

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Regardless of the decline, the death toll was “unacceptable,” the authorities said.

The “largest and most overwhelming” cause of the spike in cases is the system's inability to reach children with vaccines, WHO's Crowcroft said. However, vaccine hesitancy has also played a role.

Vaccine hesitancy has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, as people lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccinations against diseases such as measles and polio.

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More than 22 million children will have missed their first dose of measles vaccine in 2023, the agencies said.

That year, disruptive measles outbreaks were reported in 57 countries due to gaps in vaccination coverage, representing an increase of almost 60% from 36 countries the previous year, the report said.

Apart from the African region, a significant increase in cases was reported in the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, the report said.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)