Measles is a highly contagious infection, with one person infecting an estimated 12 to 18 others who are unprotected against the virus. Measles cases are surging in Europe and Central Asia, two UN agencies on Tuesday, calling for urgent action to respond to the outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF said in a joint statement that measles cases in the European region this year would soon be higher than the total for the whole of 2023.
"Even one case of measles should be an urgent call to action," Dr Hans Kluge, WHO's Regional Director for Europe said in a statement. "No one should suffer the consequences of this devastating but easily preventable disease," he added. Measles is a highly contagious virus that can lead to serious complications but is preventable through vaccination.
The symptoms include "high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body," the WHO says. There were more than 56,000 cases of measles in the first three months of 2024 in 45 of the 53 countries in WHO's European region, the agencies said. This compared to more than 61,000 cases of the virus reported in 41 countries in the region, which includes parts of Central Asia, throughout 2023.
Nearly half of reported measles cases in 2023 were in children under the age of five, and among those who contracted the virus, more than three-quarters had not received any doses of the measles vaccine. Kluge urged countries to vaccinate the vulnerable even when immunisation coverage is high to .
