Ten countries accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total increase in measles in 2018, according to figures released by UNICEF today
Globally, cases of measles are surging to alarmingly high levels. Ten countries account for more than 74 per cent of the total increase, according to UNICEF who analysed data from the World Health Organization on 194 countries. Measles has also made a comeback in several other countries that had previously been declared measles free.
98 countries out of 194, have reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared to 2017, including significant outbreaks in Brazil, Madagascar, the Philippines, Ukraine and Yemen. This erodes years of progress made against this highly preventable, but potentially deadly disease.
Ukraine, the Philippines and Brazil saw the largest increases in measles cases from 2017 to 2018. Ukraine saw 35,120 cases of measles in 2018 up by 634% from 4,782 in 2017. According to the Ukraine government, another 24,042 people were infected just in the first two months of 2019. In the Philippines, between January 1 and 23rd February 2019 – there have been 12,736 measles cases and 203 deaths, compared to 15,599 cases in the whole of 2018. Brazil had no measles cases in 2017, but 10,262 were reported in 2018. Yemen, Venezuela, Serbia, Madagascar, Sudan, Thailand and France saw the next biggest increases.
“Measles may be the disease, but, all too often, the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency. We must do more to accurately inform every parent, to help us safely vaccinate every child.”
Measles is a respiratory illness, with flu-like symptoms including high fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and a rash. It is highly contagious, more so than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza. The virus can be contracted by someone up to two hours after an infected person has left a room. It spreads through air and infects the respiratory tract. Once infected, there is no specific treatment for measles, so vaccination is a life-saving tool for children. The disease can be prevented by the MMR vaccine – a combined vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella.
“This is a wake up call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease – a vaccine that has saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director. “These cases haven’t happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow.”
Poor health infrastructure, civil unrest, low awareness, complacency and vaccine hesitancy in some cases have led to these outbreaks in both developed and developing countries, says UNICEF. For example, in the United States, the number of measles cases increased six-fold between 2017 and 2018, reaching 791 cases. More recently, the U.S. has seen outbreaks in New York and Washington state. Health officials say after many measles-free years, vaccine hesitancy has taken root leading to the incidence.
“Almost all of these cases are preventable, and yet children are getting infected even in places where there is simply no excuse,” said Fore. “Measles may be the disease, but, all too often, the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency. We must do more to accurately inform every parent, to help us safely vaccinate every child.”
To fight measles, UNICEF issued an urgent appeal to governments, health care providers, and parents to do more to contain the disease by:
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Understanding that vaccines are safe and effective and can save a child’s life
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Vaccinating all children between the ages of six months to five years during outbreaks
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Training and equipping health workers so they can provide quality services
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Strengthening immunization programmes to deliver all life-saving vaccines
