There will be more than 45 times more cases of measles in Europe in 2023, according to the WHO.
- The number of measles cases in Europe increased 45-fold in 2023, according to the WHO.
- 2 out of 5 cases involved children aged 1 to 4 years old.
- According to the WHO, urgent action is needed to strengthen vaccination coverage against measles.
Measles is regaining ground on European soil. And this seriously worries the World Health Organization (WHO). According to its latest figures transmitted on January 23, 2024, 42,200 cases were recorded in 41 of the 53 member countries of the Europe region during the year 2023. This is almost 45 times more than in 2022.
Measles: a resurgence of the disease in Europe
The two countries belonging to the WHO Europe zone most affected by the increase in viral infection are Kazakhstan and Russia. They record more than 10,000 cases of measles. While the United Kingdom considered the disease eliminated from its soil since 2021, 183 cases were identified in 2023, making it the country in Western Europe where the resurgence of the disease is most visible.
Building on the report analyzing the first ten months of 2023, WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge REMARK : “We have seen in the region not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalizations and five deaths linked to measles. It’s worrying”. If measles affected all age groups, 2 out of 5 cases concerned children aged 1 to 4 years.
For the expert, vaccination efforts “urgent” are necessary for “stop transmission and prevent the spread” of this highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease.
Measles: vaccination coverage of 95 should be achieved %
The WHO estimates, in fact, that the rise in measles is linked to the decline in vaccination coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the organization, she had “a significant impact on the performance of the immunization system during this period, leading to an accumulation of unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated children”.
In a press release published in December 2023, the institution estimated that more than “1.8 million infants in the Region (Europe) were not vaccinated against measles between 2020 and 2022. She adds that to stop the circulation of the virus, at least 95% of children must be vaccinated with two doses.
However, in 2022, the average rate was only 92% in the Europe zone. Vaccination coverage is even much lower in some places. British health authorities, who also monitor the evolution of measles cases in their country, revealed last week that it reached only 81% in certain areas, notably around Birmingham.
