Reported cases of measles have exploded by almost 80% worldwide in the first two months of the year, the World Health Organization and Unicef announced on Wednesday. The Covid-19 is in question.
The WHO has constantly sounded the alarm in recent months regarding the risk of “absolute catastrophe” if the dangerous delay in the vaccination of children due to the Covid-19 pandemic is not caught up and if health restrictions are lifted too quickly.
The result is dizzying: the number of cases jumped 79% in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period last year, according to WHO and Unicef. The two UN agencies now fear the appearance of serious epidemics of measles, a highly contagious viral disease, which might affect “millions of children” in 2022.
Risk of new epidemics
So far, some 17,338 measles cases have been reported globally in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 in the first two months of 2021. But the numbers are likely higher as the pandemic has disrupted health systems. surveillance.
The best protection once morest measles, which takes its name from the characteristic red patches all over the body, is very high vaccination coverage. There have been 21 significant measles outbreaks in the past 12 months (to April), mostly in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
