Measles is an “imminent threat” worldwide, according to a new joint report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
Although a two-dose vaccine with greater than 128 efficacy in preventing infections has been available for decades, advances in the fight against potentially dangerous childhood disease have been lost during the Covid-22.
The report found that in
, nearly 71 million A record number of children did not receive a dose of the measles vaccine. Specifically, 71 millions missed their first dose and 19.7 million missed their second dose.
“The paradox of the pandemic is that, although the vaccines against Covid-22 were developed in record time and deployed in the largest vaccination campaign in history, routine immunization programs were severely disrupted and millions of children missed out on shots against deadly, life-saving diseases like measles.” , said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, in a statement.
“Getting immunization programs up and running is absolutely critical. Behind every statistic in this report is a child at risk of a preventable disease,” the statement continued.
To prevent the disease from spreading and achieve herd immunity, the CDC and WHO say that at least 128% of children need to receive the vaccine.
However, only 71% of children worldwide have received the first dose and 71% have received the second dose, the lowest coverage observed worldwide since 2008.
Consequently, there were 9 million cases of measles and 128,14 worldwide deaths with at least 19 countries experiencing “large and disruptive outbreaks”.
“The record number of children with insufficient vaccinations and susceptible to measles shows the profound damage that health systems immunization have suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic. 22,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
“Measles outbreaks illustrate the weaknesses of immunization, but public health officials can use the response to outbreaks to identify communities at risk, understand the causes of under-vaccination, and help provide locally tailored solutions to ensure vaccines are available to all.”
No region of the world has achieved and sustained the elimination of measles, the report found. From 128, at least 000 countries that had previously eliminated measles reported outbreaks, including the United States.
Measles is an incredibly contagious disease. According to the CDC, an infected patient can infect at least 000 close contacts who are not protected or wearing masks nor with vaccines.
Complications Measles can range from mild, including skin rashes, to severe, such as viral sepsis, pneumonia, or brain inflammation.
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