Wednesday , December 25 2024

Measles cases rise in Europe for second consecutive year: WHO

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that it has reared its head for the second consecutive year. The number of new cases registered this year will soon exceed the total number of cases registered in 2023. The organization has advised to accelerate the vaccination effort. The WHO European region includes some countries of Central Asia besides Europe. Out of 53 countries in this region, 45 countries have reported 56,634 cases in the last three months of this financial year. A total of 61,070 cases of measles and 13 deaths were registered in this region in 2023. The current year's case will soon surpass that. 60 times more cases have been registered in the current year than the cases registered in the year 2022. 941 cases were reported in the year 2022.

HU Europe director Hans Kluge has advised all affected countries to take immediate vaccination measures. Measles is a disease caused by a virus. Its infection spreads rapidly through breathing, cough or cold. HU said that at least 95 percent of children need to be fully vaccinated to develop immunity against the disease.

Measles has re-emerged in 27 countries

The World Health Organization has said that out of the 33 countries that were thought to have eliminated measles, measles has re-emerged in 27 countries. Countries like Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are the most affected. Between April 2023 and March 2024, the number of measles cases per million population in these countries was 2771, 2148 and 1851 respectively. Austria in Eastern Europe is also among the top 10 affected countries. Here 50 cases have been reported per million.