The UN warns of a 79% increase in global measles cases

Cases of measlesa disease that can be fatal especially in unvaccinated children, rose 79% globally in the first two months of 2022, the United Nations warned today, which fears that the pandemic of COVID-19 a “perfect storm” of other disease outbreaks may follow.

In January and February they were registered in the world 17,338 cases of measlescompared to 9,665 in the same period of 2021, something that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) attribute to the interruption of vaccination campaigns during the pandemic.

“The diversion of resources normally used in routine vaccinations is leaving too many children unprotected from measles and other preventable diseases”, they highlighted in a joint statement, where they warned that outbreaks of other infectious diseases against which there is a vaccine could also occur.

The relaxation of physical distancing measures in recent months and the humanitarian crises in countries such as Ukraine, Ethiopia or Afghanistan (many of the outbreaks are declared in conflict zones) have also been able to influence the increase in casespointed out the two United Nations agencies.

In the last 12 months, the countries that have reported the most cases of measles have been Nigeria (12,341), Somalia (9,068), Yemen (3,629), Afghanistan (3,628) and Ethiopia (3,039), affected by humanitarian crises and where the vaccination rates are relatively low (between 46% and 68%, when it is recommended to reach 95%).

Likewise, in our country, according to information from the Ministry of Health, in 2021, 78 suspected cases of measles and rubella were reported, all discarded.

WHO and UNICEF also warn about the possible outbreak of outbreaks of the disease in Ukraine, which before the war was the European country with the most cases (115,000, of which 41 were fatal, between 2017 and 2019) and that due to the The COVID-19 pandemic and the war have interrupted their vaccination campaigns in the last three years.

Organizations warn that during the pandemic 57 vaccination campaigns against infectious diseases have been halted in 43 countries, affecting 203 million people, many of them children.

Of these interrupted campaigns, 19 are for measles, which has placed 73 million children in a situation of vulnerability to a disease with lethal capacity and that, by weakening the immune system, it can cause serious infections due to pneumonia or diarrhea.

WHO and UNICEF recall that in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 23 million children could not access their routine vaccinations, the highest number since 2009.