A record high of nearly 40m children missed a measles vaccine dose in 2021 due to hurdles created by the COVID pandemic, the WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a joint report last week, warning of a possible global spread of the virus.
They said COVID-19 resulted in a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of what is one of the most contagious human viruses, but which is almost entirely preventable through vaccination.
However, it requires 95% vaccine coverage to prevent outbreaks among populations.
While measles cases have not yet gone up dramatically compared with previous years, now was the time to act, the WHO’s measles lead, Patrick O’Connor, told Reuters.
“We are at a crossroads,” he said. “It is going to be a very challenging 12-24 months trying to mitigate this.”
A combination of factors like lingering social distancing measures and cyclical nature of measles may explain why there has not yet been an explosion of cases despite the widening immunity gaps, but that could change quickly, said O’Connor, pointing out the highly contagious nature of the disease.
The WHO has already seen an increase of large disruptive outbreaks since the start of 2022, rising from 19 to almost 30 by September, he said, adding that he was particularly worried about parts of sub-Saharan Africa, which is already seeing outbreaks, including in South Africa.
SA’s measles vaccine coverage has also been well below the target threshold and the country is now facing an outbreak of the highly contagious disease in two provinces.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported outbreaks in both Mpumalanga and Limpopo, with at least 57 cases recorded so far, reports News24.
The NICD has said it was worried about a wider outbreak, as sporadic laboratory-confirmed cases have also been reported in the Northern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Western Cape.
The outbreak started in the Sekhukhune district municipality of Limpopo and spread to Capricorn and Waterberg districts in Limpopo as well as Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga. The Vhembe district in Limpopo has also reported two laboratory-confirmed cases of measles, one of which has been linked to the cases circulating in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Concern as measles spreads to Mpumalanga
Measles outbreak spreading across Limpopo, warns NICD
Zimbabwean measles outbreak kills 150 children
South Africa ‘on the cusp’ of a major measles outbreak, say experts