Measles cases increase 3 times in 6 months

Measles cases worldwide have almost tripled since January compared to the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization. Figures released by the World Health Organization show that 364,808 cases were recorded between January 1 and July 31, compared with 129,239 last year over the same period.

"This is the largest number recorded since 2006. The largest number of casualties has been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Ukraine," said Christian Lindmayr, spokesman for the organization at a press conference in Geneva. The number of cases in Madagascar has "decreased in recent months" as a result of national measles emergency vaccination campaigns, the WHO said.

Households also increased significantly in Angola, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudan and Chad. The United States has had the highest number of cases in its territory in 25 years.

Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world and its deaths are often due to complications. There is no cure for this disease, but two doses of vaccine "very safe and effective", as confirmed by the World Health Organization, can prevent it.

The measles epidemic is recorded in countries where immunization coverage is low. Opponents of vaccination in Western countries rely on a 1998 study linking measles vaccine to autism. The world body has refuted this argument repeatedly, while the British author Andrew Wakefield has turned out to be falsified.

Opposition to vaccination may be religiously motivated, as is the case in New York, where the disease was introduced by unvaccinated travelers from Israel. In Europe, the figures also doubled, with some 90,000 cases reported this year, compared with 84,462 in 2018.

Elsewhere, FAO recorded a tenfold increase in Africa, 230% in the Western Pacific and 50% in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Asia and throughout the continent, the decline was 15%.

The World Health Organization considers that anyone over six months old should be immunized against measles before traveling to an area of ​​spread of the disease. He recommends that travelers receive the vaccine at least 15 days before their trip.