Europe needs to step up measles vaccination campaigns, the World Health Organisation warned yesterday.
In the last year more than 22,000 people in just seven countries on the continent have succumbed to the virus.
The worst-affected countries include Russia and Bosnia but also Italy and Germany.
The worst affected country is Kyrgyzstan, which falls in the World Health Organisation’s European region. In Germany an outbreak has affected the region around Berlin.
WHO said the problem was aggravated by growing numbers of parents refusing to vaccinate their children.
WHO regional director Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab said: “When we consider that over the past two decades we have seen a reduction of 96% in the number of measles cases in the European Region, and that we are just a step away from eliminating the disease, we are taken aback by these numbers.
"We must collectively respond, without further delay, to close immunisation gaps.
“It is unacceptable that, after the last 50 years’ efforts to make safe and effective vaccines available, measles continues to cost lives, money and time.”
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