Decline in vaccinations for measles raises fears

Health officials fear that the drop in measles vaccinations will spark global outbreaks and deaths from the highly contagious disease, which primarily strikes children but can affect people of any age.

More than 22 million children worldwide missed getting their first measles vaccination last year, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

In the past 20 years, the number of measles cases around the globe has declined dramatically — from roughly 36.8 million in 2000 to 7.5 million in 2020, according to the report. The CDC and WHO also estimated that, in those two decades, nearly 32 million deaths from measles had been averted by vaccination efforts, with the annual death toll dropping from more than 1 million in 2000 to about 61,000 in 2020.

Usually, children get the first dose of the measles vaccine when they are 12 to 15 months old, followed by a second dose when they are 4 to 6 years old. But just 70% of children due for their second shot actually got it last year, according to the CDC and WHO, describing this as “well below the 95 percent coverage needed to protect communities from the spread of the measles virus.”

Although people tend to think of measles as a rash caused by reddish spots or bumps, measles is actually a respiratory infection, caused by a virus that also produces a fever and flu-like symptoms, which usually abate in one to two weeks. Complications can develop, however, and can lead to respiratory or neurological conditions, such as pneumonia or encephalitis, which can be fatal.