WHO: The number of measles cases doubles overall compared to 2018

GENEVA (Reuters) – All regions of the world, with the exception of the Americas, are seeing an increase in the number of measles cases, an illness that can lead to death or childhood disability and can be prevented by vaccination. Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO).

Kate O. Brien, WHO leader, blamed failing health systems and misinformation on immunization, and called on social media and communities to provide accurate information on ways to reduce the spread of the infection.

"We are backing down, we are on the wrong track," said O. Brien, chief of the WHO Vaccines and Biology Department, during a press briefing.

"We are concerned that all regions are experiencing an increase in measles, with the exception of the Americas, which have experienced a slight decline," she said.

Between January and July of this year, nearly three times more cases were reported than during the same period in 2018, said the WHO.

The number of cases in the world has reached about 365,000 this year, the highest number since 2006, she said, adding that this figure represented only a small percentage of the 6.7 million cases. suspected.

The latest statistics indicate that measles caused about 109,000 deaths in 2017.

The largest epidemic occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (155,460 cases), followed by Madagascar (12,454) and Ukraine (54,246).

The disease has also decreased in Europe. In 2018, four countries lost the "measles-free" characterization: Albania, the Czech Republic, Greece and Great Britain.

WHO statistics did not include a specific decline in the number in the Americas region.

The United States has reported 1,215 cases of measles in 30 states, the worst epidemic in the country since 1992, health officials said Monday.

Health experts say the virus has spread among school-aged children whose parents refused to give them the vaccine.