Measles cases nearly doubled globally between 2022 and 2023, researchers say, with 321 582 cases worldwide last year, an 88% increase from the previous year, when 171 153 cases were recorded.
The WHO predicts that total cases for this year will probably at least match last year’s, and some countries may now lose their “elimination status” when it is reviewed in September, warned the agency’s Dr Patrick O’Connor at the ESCMID (European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) Global Congress in Barcelona this past weekend.
Sky News reports that the UK was declared measles-free in 2017, but had this status stripped from it in 2019 after a surge in cases.
Measures designed to stop the spread of Covid also interrupted measles transmission, and the UK regained its elimination status in 2021.
But now England is facing a measles emergency, with almost 900 cases recorded this year, a sharp increase from 368 cases throughout the whole of 2023.
O'Connor said the virus was “extremely infectious and any gaps in immunisation coverage are potential risk for outbreak”.
“So, coverage needs to high but also uniform and equitable.”
Vaccination had prevented an estimated 57m deaths between 2000 and 2022, he added, but the number of countries suffering large or disruptive measles outbreaks – defined as 20 cases per million people continuously over a 12-month period – has tripled from 17 to 51.
Most cases were in low and lower-middle income countries. The highest rates in the world were in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Yemen.
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Measles warning in Europe as cases surge 30-fold
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