Measles surges, jeopardising progress

Reported cases of measles worldwide surged by nearly a third last year, partly because parents did not vaccinate their children, health organisations said last week.

The increase in measles, a highly contagious scourge that had been nearly eradicated in many parts of the world just a few years ago, was “deeply concerning”, the organisations said in a report on the fight to eradicate measles.

“Without urgent efforts to increase vaccination coverage and identify populations with unacceptable levels of under- or unimmunised children, we risk losing decades of progress,” Dr Soumya Swaminathan, deputy director general for programs at the World Health Organization, said in announcing the findings.

Measles outbreaks affected nearly all regions, the report said, with the biggest surges in the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean region and Europe.

The findings reinforced similarly alarming results reported three months ago by the WHO for Europe, which showed that measles had reached the highest levels in two decades across the continent.

At least 95% of a population must have immunity to control the spread of measles, public-health officials say. But in several European countries, the figure is 85% or less. Health officials have put the blame for the immunity problem partly on parental neglect and the mistaken belief that vaccines can cause autism and other afflictions.

The measles increase in Latin America was partly attributable to an economic calamity afflicting Venezuela, where many public health services have stopped or are mired in dysfunction.

The number of officially reported measles cases in 2017 totalled 173,330, the report said, 31% higher than levels in 2016. Still, the number of reported cases last year remained far below the 853,479 reported in 2000.

The disease can cause debilitating and sometimes fatal complications, severe diarrhoea, dehydration, pneumonia and vision loss. Babies and young children with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible.

An estimated 110,000 people, mainly children, died from measles last year, the report said.