{"id":840847,"date":"2025-04-12T18:11:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T23:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/12\/measles-cases-in-european-region-doubled-to-highest-since-1997\/"},"modified":"2025-04-12T18:11:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T23:11:59","slug":"measles-cases-in-european-region-doubled-to-highest-since-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/12\/measles-cases-in-european-region-doubled-to-highest-since-1997\/","title":{"rendered":"Measles cases in European region doubled to highest since 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Measles cases in Europe and Central Asia doubled last year compared to 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF have warned in what is being called a “wake-up call”.<\/p>\n

There were 127,350 reported infections in the region in 2024, which is the highest number since 1997.<\/p>\n

It is around a third of last year’s total worldwide cases of 359,521.<\/p>\n

More than 40% of the European cases were children under five, as the two global bodies appealed for urgent action to increase vaccination levels.<\/p>\n

In 2023, half a million children across the region missed the first dose of the vaccine (MCV1) that should be given through routine immunisation services, said the organisations.<\/p>\n

Two doses of the measles vaccine are believed to be 97% effective in preventing the disease, which typically affects the respiratory system and leads to symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and a rash.<\/p>\n

Measles<\/strong><\/a> is one of the most contagious viruses for humans. In serious cases, infections can cause complications including pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration and blindness.<\/p>\n

More than half of the European region cases had to be treated in hospital, and 38 people died.<\/p>\n

‘Measles is back’<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHO’s Europe director Dr Hans Kluge said: “Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call.” He added: “Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security… The measles virus never rests – and neither can we.”<\/p>\n

The nation with the most infections last year was Romania which had 30,692, followed by Kazakhstan with 28,147.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>
Mum urges parents to vaccinate childen after baby ‘struggled to breathe’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n

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Sept 2024 – ‘It saves lives’: Mum’s vaccination plea<\/span>
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Fewer than 80% of eligible children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania were vaccinated with MCV1 in 2023 – which is well below the 95% coverage rate needed to prevent an outbreak.<\/p>\n

In Montenegro, fewer than 50% of children have been vaccinated against measles for at least the past five years. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the figure was less than 70%.<\/p>\n

UK officials said last month there have been more than 200 reported cases in the country and that many more were expected.<\/p>\n

Vaccination rates not back to pre-pandemic levels<\/strong><\/p>\n

Measles cases in the region have generally been declining since 1997, when 216,000 were reported, reaching a low of 4,440 cases in 2016, according to the WHO and UNICEF.<\/p>\n

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\"Measles\n <\/p>

\n Image:<\/span>
\n File pic: iStock
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However, a resurgence was seen in 2018 and 2019 with 89,000 and 106,000 cases reported for those years respectively.<\/p>\n

After a drop in immunisation coverage during the COVID pandemic, cases rose significantly again in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing the risk of outbreaks.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sky News:<\/strong>
Streeting admits he did not anticipate scrapping NHS England<\/strong><\/a>
Key admission at heart of Starmer’s public service reforms<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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How to avoid spreading or catching measles<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n

Measles is spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.<\/p>\n

A rash usually appears a few days after the cold-like symptoms. The rash starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body.<\/p>\n

A person is infectious from when they first have symptoms (around four days before the rash appears) until four days after they get the rash.<\/p>\n

There are things people can do to reduce the risk of spreading or catching measles.<\/p>\n

Do:
\nWash hands often with soap and warm water.
\nUse tissues when coughing or sneezing.
\nThrow used tissues in the bin.<\/p>\n

Don’t:
\nDo not share cutlery, cups, towels, clothes, or bedding.<\/p>\n

Information from NHS website<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

‘Never too late to be vaccinated’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Concerns about the safety of the measles vaccine have lingered for decades, after British physician Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues published a paper in 1998 – which has long since been retracted – linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism.<\/p>\n

No evidence for any causal link has ever been found and Wakefield had his licence to practise medicine in the UK revoked.<\/p>\n

“It’s never too late to get vaccinated,” said Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who warned that misinformation can unfortunately travel rapidly. “Even a small decline in vaccine uptake can have devastating consequences.”<\/p>\n

In the US, an outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, which led to the country’s first measles deaths<\/strong><\/a> in a decade, has seen 28 more infections this week, taking the total to 256.<\/p>\n

It is the first major challenge for new health secretary and long-time vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Measles cases in Europe and Central Asia doubled last year compared to 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF have warned in what is being called a “wake-up call”. There were 127,350 reported infections in the region in 2024, which is the highest number since 1997. It is around a third of last year’s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":840848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21967,4869],"tags":[8260,9307],"class_list":{"0":"post-840847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cases","8":"category-measles","9":"tag-cases","10":"tag-measles"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}