WHO expects many measles cases soon

After the number of measles cases nearly doubled in January and February compared to the same period last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) and children’s charity UNICEF warned of massive outbreaks of the alleged childhood disease across the world. world. Millions of children can be affected, although measles virus infection can be prevented with a vaccine. The two organizations cite the corona pandemic, which has caused vaccination programs to be halted, and the ongoing conflicts in countries such as Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan, over the millions of people in the country, as reasons for the outbreaks. especially in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean are flight.

According to the WHO, 17,338 measles cases were reported in January and February, compared with 9,665 cases in the first two months of the year a year ago. Because measles can spread very easily and quickly if young children are not vaccinated in time, experts assume that there will soon be outbreaks of other infectious diseases whose pathogens are not as contagious. As the measles virus weakens the immune system, severe diarrhea and pneumonia can occur.

In 2020 alone, 23 million children worldwide could not be routinely vaccinated, nearly four million more than in 2019. According to the WHO, there have been 21 serious measles outbreaks in the last twelve months, the majority of cases in Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia registered. A total of 57 vaccination campaigns in 43 countries could not be carried out as planned because of Corona, affecting 203 million people, mainly children. 19 of these campaigns concerned measles, 73 million children were not reached. The WHO recorded the worst measles outbreaks in Europe even before Corona in Ukraine: between 2017 and 2019 there were 115,000 cases there, 41 children died from the infectious disease.