COPENHAGEN, May 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Measles cases are surging across Europe
for a second straight year and will soon exceed the already-high number
recorded in 2023, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday.

It called on countries to boost their vaccination efforts.

A total of 56,634 cases of measles and four deaths were registered during the
first three months of the year in 45 of the 53 countries that make up the WHO
European region, which includes Central Asia.

That is just 5,000 cases fewer than for the whole of 2023, when 61,070 cases
and 13 deaths were reported in 41 countries.

It is also 60 times more than the 941 cases reported in 2022.

"Measles cases across Europe continue to surge, with the number of measles
cases recorded for this year soon to exceed the total number of cases
reported throughout 2023," the WHO said in a statement.

"I urge all countries to take immediate action, even where overall
immunisation coverage is high, to vaccinate the vulnerable, close the
immunity gaps and thereby prevent the virus from taking hold in any
community," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said.

Measles is caused by a virus and spreads easily when people breathe, cough or
sneeze. It is most common in children, but can affect anyone.

Symptoms often include a rash, running nose, cough and watery eyes.
Complications can be severe.

At least 95 percent of children need to be fully vaccinated against the
disease in a locality to prevent outbreaks.

Almost half of the cases recorded in 2023 involved children under the age of
five.

The WHO said that reflected "an accumulation of children who missed routine
vaccinations against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases during
the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with slow recovery in vaccination coverage in
2021 and 2022."

It said outbreaks had been reported in 27 of the 33 countries where the
disease is considered eliminated.

Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were the most affected countries, with
incidence rates of 2,771.15, 2,148.66 and 1,851.01 per million between April
2023 and March 2024.

Austria was the only Western European country in the top 10, with an
incidence rate of 50.90 per million.