Europe recorded 30 times more cases of measles between January and October 2023 than in 2022 at the same period, warns the European branch of the WHO in a press release.
The UN organization calls for intensifying vaccination efforts.
30 times more cases than in 2022 this fall
“The WHO European region is experiencing an alarming increase in measles cases”, deplores the organization which reports that “more than 30,000 cases were in fact reported by 40 of the 53 Member States in the region between January and October 2023 ".
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These figures represent a thirty-fold increase in cases detected.
As a reminder, the previous year at the same period, 941 cases had been recorded.
“The increase in the number of cases has accelerated in recent months, and this trend is expected to continue if urgent measures are not taken in the region to prevent the spread,” fears the WHO.
In this press release, Doctor Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, also explains that “we have observed a 30-fold increase in measles cases in the region, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalizations. and 5 deaths linked to this disease.
It's worrying ".
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Measles epidemic in Val-Thorens: “The only preventive treatment is vaccination”
Note that measles manifests itself as a rash preceded by rhinitis, conjunctivitis, cough, very high fever and severe fatigue.
It can affect all age groups and has an incubation period of one to three weeks.
In France last October, an outbreak of measles was detected.
Around sixty cases among children were identified in one month, after 2022 when the epidemic seemed to have stabilized, noted Santé Public France at the time.
#Measles
🦠 An epidemic of #measles broke out this week in a #college in Ardèche and affects children in several classes.
The heads of establishments of the establishments concerned were notified by the National Education services who informed… pic.twitter.com/iJeubaGroE
— Prefect of Ardèche 🇫🇷 🇪🇺 (@Prefet07) September 23, 2023
Intensify vaccination campaigns
“Vaccination is the only way to protect children against this potentially dangerous disease,” recalls Hans Henri P. Kluge.
“Vaccination activities must be carried out urgently to stop transmission and prevent the spread,” he encourages.
And before vaccination, the doctor underlines the importance for countries to detect cases in order to identify the extent of the epidemic and to be able to best target campaigns: “It is essential that all countries are ready to quickly detect measles outbreaks and to intervene in time as they could jeopardize progress towards measles elimination.
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The objective is to deploy vaccination coverage in Europe in order to reach 95%.
The latter mainly concerns children in order to avoid outbreaks and importation of the virus.
In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, only 92% of children have received their two doses.
The WHO estimates that measles vaccination prevented 56 million deaths between 2000 and 2021. Yet, by 2022, 83% of children worldwide had received a dose of measles vaccine in their first year , a rate that has never been so low since 2008.