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The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that efforts to stem the spread of measles were on the decline, with the number of cases worldwide increasing by about 50 percent last year.
The UN Health Agency has reported preliminary data showing that the worrying trend of measles cases to resurgence was manifesting globally, including in affluent countries where vaccination coverage was historically high .
"Our data show a substantial increase in the number of measles cases. We are seeing it in all regions, "Katherine O. Brien, director of immunization, vaccines and biologics at WHO, told reporters.
"We have prolonged, significant and increasing epidemics," she said. "This is not an isolated problem."
O & # 39; Brien pointed out that less than 10% of measles cases are reported.
"So when we see the reported cases increase by 50%, we know we are going in the wrong direction," she said, adding that the actual number of infections was "several million".
Countries have until April to report to WHO measles cases recorded in 2018.
The agency said, however, that data received so far showed that about 229,000 cases had already been reported, compared with 170,000 in 2017.
According to preliminary figures from the WHO, measles has caused about 136,000 deaths worldwide.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause severe diarrhea, pneumonia and vision loss, which can be fatal in some cases and remains "a leading cause of death in young children," according to WHO.
This is frustrating because the disease can easily be prevented with two doses of a "safe and effective" vaccine used since the 1960s, the UN agency said.
Until 2016, the number of measles cases had steadily decreased, but since 2017, the number has increased, according to Katrina Kretsinger, who runs WHO's Expanded Program on Immunization.
"There are a number of epidemics … that are behind some of these increases," she told reporters, citing significant epidemics in Ukraine, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Sierra Leone.
In the poorest countries, marginalized communities and states in conflict, the problem lies in the lack of access to the vaccine.
Meanwhile, in Europe and other rich regions, experts attribute the problem in part to complacency and misinformation about the vaccine.
The resurgence of the disease in some countries is linked to non-medical claims linking measles vaccine to autism, which have been partly broadcast on social media by members of the so-called "anti-vax" movement.
"We are retreating on the progress made," said O. Brien.
"And we do not back down because we do not have the tools to prevent that. We have the tools to prevent measles, "she said.
"We are backing away because of the failure of vaccination."
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