The pandemic-linked decline in measles vaccination has made the disease an “imminent threat”, the World Health Organization has warned today.
Nearly 40 million children worldwide are now “dangerously” susceptible to the virus, WHO said, because of missing vaccinations last year.
WHO reported large and disruptive outbreaks in 22 countries – with 128,000 deaths from the disease and nine million reported cases of infection.
Just 81% of children have received their first dose of vaccination and 71% their second, WHO warned.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The paradox of the pandemic is that while vaccines against COVID-19 were developed in record time and deployed in the largest vaccination campaign in history, routine immunisation programmes were badly disrupted, and millions of kids missed out on life-saving vaccinations against deadly diseases like measles.
“Getting immunisation programmes back on track is absolutely critical. Behind every statistic in this report is a child at risk of a preventable disease.”
Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Center for Disease Control, added: “The record number of children under-immunised and susceptible to measles shows the profound damage immunization systems have sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Measles outbreaks illustrate weaknesses in immunisation programs, but public health officials can use outbreak response to identify communities at risk, understand causes of under-vaccination, and help deliver locally tailored solutions to ensure vaccinations are available to all.”
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