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* The rising disease in the world can be deadly for children
* Germany, Russia and Venezuela had major outbreaks last year
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Measles is on the rise all over the world, especially in Europe and Latin America, partly because of parents' refusal to be vaccinated, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Health (WHO).
Some 173,000 cases of measles were officially declared worldwide in 2017, an increase of more than 30% over the previous year, the WHO said in a report. The actual number of cases is estimated at 6.7 million last year, he said.
About 110,000 people, mostly children, died as a result of the vaccine-preventable disease.
"What is more disturbing than this increase … is that we are seeing a continued transmission of measles in countries that have not seen it for several years," said Martin Friede, acting director of the Division Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals of WHO.
"This suggests that we are actually regressing in some cases," he said at a press briefing.
The highly infectious disease can be fatal or cause hearing loss and mental disorders in children. It is often the sign of other epidemics such as diphtheria in an under-vaccinated population.
Germany, the Russian Federation and Venezuela experienced severe measles outbreaks last year, resulting in the withdrawal of their certification for interruption of transmission, said the WHO.
"We are seeing a slight increase in the 2018 data and this increase seems to be sustainable, so we are worried that what can start as a tip will become a trend," Friede said.
Katrina Kretsinger, WHO Medical Advisor, said: "At the moment, we are on track to have more cases than in 2017".
Global vaccine coverage for the first dose of measles vaccine has stagnated at 85%, while 95% is needed to prevent epidemics, the WHO report said. The coverage of the second dose is 67%.
"The majority of children who do not get vaccinated live in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in the world, often in conflict zones," said Ann Lindstrand of the WHO.
But in some parts of Europe and Latin America, "negative disinformation or mistrust of vaccination" discourages vaccination, she said, adding that the vaccine was safe.
"We sometimes lose ground against measles because people forget that it is a horrible disease," she said. (Report by Stephanie Nebehay edited by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
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