United Nations, April 28 (Agency) The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have warned of a “perfect storm” of measles outbreak as worldwide cases are up nearly 80 per cent in 2022 than last year. The organizations said, “Almost 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first two months of 2021. As measles is very contagious, cases tend to show up quickly when vaccination levels decline. The agencies are concerned that outbreaks of measles could also forewarn outbreaks of other diseases that do not spread as rapidly.” It further said that 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks around the world in the last 12 months.
On Wednesday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has interrupted immunization services, health systems have been overwhelmed, and we are now seeing a resurgence of deadly diseases including measles. For many other diseases, the impact of these disruptions to immunization services will be felt for decades to come.” According to CNN the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published data last week that showed measles vaccinations in kindergarten students dropped to 93.6 per cent in the 2020-2021 school year.
“We are concerned that missed routine vaccinations could leave children vulnerable to preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough, which are extremely contagious and can be very serious, especially for babies and young children,” Dr Shannon Stokley, deputy director of the CDC’s Immunization Services Division said of the release of the vaccination data. Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, said, “It is encouraging that people in many communities are beginning to feel protected enough from Covid-19 to return to more social activities. But doing so in places where children are not receiving routine vaccination creates the perfect storm for the spread of a disease like measles.”