Half the world at risk of measles this year without urgent vaccination uptake — WHO
Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the covid-19 years, when health systems were overwhelmed and fell behind on routine vaccinations for preventable diseases.
More than half the world's countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday.
Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the covid-19 years, when health systems were overwhelmed and fell behind on routine vaccinations for preventable diseases.
"What we are worried about is this year, 2024, we've got these big gaps in our immunisation programmes and if we don't fill them really quickly with the vaccine, measles will just jump into that gap," the WHO's senior technical adviser on measles and rubella Natasha Crowcroft, told a Geneva press briefing.
"We can see, from data that's produced with WHO data by the CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], that more than half of all the countries in the world are going to be at high or very high risk of outbreaks by the end of this year."
She called for urgent action to protect children, saying there was a "lack of commitment" by governments given competing issues like economic crises and conflict.
Measles is a highly contagious, airborne virus that mostly affects children under five years old. It can be prevented by two doses of vaccine and more than 50 million deaths have been averted since 2000, according to the WHO.
Cases last year were already up 79% to more than 300,000, according to WHO data — thought to represent just a fraction of the total.
Outbreaks have been reported in all WHO regions with the exception of the Americas, although Ms Crowcroft warned these were to be expected.
Death rates are higher in poorer countries due to weaker health systems, Ms Crowcroft said, adding outbreaks and deaths were also a risk for middle- and high-income countries.
"We had many measles outbreaks around the world and middle-income countries really suffered. And we're worried that 2024 is going to look like 2019," she said.
One case of measles has been confirmed in Northern Ireland.
The Public Health Agency (PHA) said it was the first case there in seven years.
The PHA said the case was confirmed in an adult who picked it up while travelling.
Close contacts have been notified and "all appropriate public health actions are being undertaken".
PHA director of public health Dr Joanne McClean said "it is vital that those who have not had their two doses of the MMR vaccine to act now and reduce the risks from this highly contagious and potentially deadly disease".
It came a fortnight after an adult with measles died in the Leinster area.
The HSE reported the adult male died in a hospital in the Dublin and Midlands health region. It was the first confirmed case notified in Ireland this year.
Public health teams were taking "all necessary" steps in relation to the case, including issuing a health alert at the time.
The most recent data published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre showed five cases of measles in Ireland this year to date. That included one confirmed case and three possible cases.
