Global measles cases have risen by 18% and deaths by a staggering 43% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This escalation brings the estimated number of measles cases to 9 million and deaths to 136,000, primarily among children.
This surge follows years of declining measles vaccination coverage. In 2022, large or disruptive measles outbreaks were reported in 37 countries, a significant increase from 22 countries in 2021. The majority of these outbreaks occurred in the WHO Region for Africa, followed by the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the European Region.
John Vertefeuille, director of CDC’s Global Immunization Division, said, “The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is staggering, but unfortunately, not unexpected given the declining vaccination rates we’ve seen in the past few years.”
Despite being preventable with two doses of a vaccine, measles continues to pose a rapidly escalating threat to children worldwide. In 2022, 33 million children missed a measles vaccine dose, with nearly 22 million missing their first dose and an additional 11 million missing their second. Global vaccine coverage rates for the first and second doses were 83% and 74%, respectively, falling short of the 95% coverage necessary to protect communities from outbreaks.
Low-income countries, where the risk of death from measles is highest, continue to have the lowest vaccination rates at only 66%. Over half of the 22 million children who missed their first measles vaccine dose in 2022 live in just 10 countries: Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Kate O’Brien, WHO Director for Immunization, Vaccine and Biologicals, stated, “The lack of recovery in measles vaccine coverage in low-income countries following the pandemic is an alarm bell for action.”
The CDC and WHO are urging countries to find and vaccinate all children against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. They also encourage global stakeholders to assist countries in vaccinating their most vulnerable communities and investing in robust surveillance systems to rapidly detect and respond to outbreaks.
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