The lesser-known measles outbreak that killed nearly 1,000 people in the month

The recent measles epidemics in North America and Western Europe have received a great deal of attention. Meanwhile, slightly out of the media, there is a lesser-known epidemic that has claimed the lives of at least 922 people since October 2018.

The World Health Organization (WHO) told reporters on February 14 that there had been more than 66,000 reported measles cases and at least 922 deaths in Madagascar between October 2018 and February 12, 2019 .

The vast majority of these cases and deaths were children, they added. It should also be noted that less than 10% of measles cases are reported worldwide, the actual figure will probably be much higher.

Dr Katrina Kretsinger, head of WHO's Expanded Program on Immunization, also spoke of major outbreaks of the disease in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Sierra Leone.

The measles virus is highly contagious and is easily transmitted by coughing and sneezing. Once infected, people will experience a nasty fever, a distinct skin rash and a cough. It is also potentially lethal and can lead to complications such as blindness and swelling of the brain.

However, the disease can be easily prevented with two doses of a vaccine containing the measles virus.

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All this tragedy in Madagascar is inseparable from the relatively low vaccination rate of the African island country. In 2017, the estimated vaccination rate was only 58%. As an indication, the rate in the WHO European Region was 94% in 2008. Given this outbreak, the country receives a response to an emergency epidemic that has already vaccinated 2.2 million of the 26 million inhabitants of the region.

The current situation clearly shows how under-vaccination rates can affect a community. If a relatively small percentage of the population is vaccinated, the disease spreads much faster and further. If an epidemic strikes a population with widespread vaccination, the disease is hard to spread and links with vulnerable people in the population are more likely to be cut off. To encourage such a scenario, WHO recommends vaccination coverage of at least 95% with two doses of measles vaccine.

Vaccination rates have been steadily declining for several years in Europe and parts of North America, particularly because of mistrust of the vaccine's side effects – concerns that have been categorically denied. and rejected by all the major health organizations of the world. As Madagascar shows, the dangers of under-vaccination in a community are very real and far-reaching.

"Madagascar started with a few cases; We are now close to 60,000 and the number of cases continues to increase, "said Richard Mihigo, coordinator of the World Health Organization's Immunization Development and Vaccine Development Program at its regional office for the World Health Organization. Africa, according to the agency. The Washington Post. "I think companies like the United States and Western Europe should ring and see that it's something that could also happen to them."