Measles Outbreak Spreads Across the Americas: Over 14,000 Cases Reported This Year, Prompting Urgent Health Alert

[Yu Qingzhong/Rapporto completo]Last week the Pan American Health Organization issued an Epidemiological Alert in response to recent outbreaks and cases of “measles” discovered in the Americas. As of October 5, a total of 1,000 reports have been received in the Americas. There are more than 14,000 cases of measles, mostly in the United States, Canada and Argentina, most of which are linked to foreign imports. The report urges countries to strengthen vaccination and surveillance.

After the global Covid-19 epidemic alert was lifted, personal epidemic prevention measures such as masks, hand washing and various vaccinations have been relaxed. In the last year and a half, several epidemics of respiratory diseases have occurred around the world, in addition to influenza, adenovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the ancient “measles” has made a resurgence and epidemics have been reported in various places.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) highlighted that among confirmed cases in the Americas, 57% of infected people have not been vaccinated and 28% have unknown vaccination status. Faced with this situation, PAHO urges countries to continue strengthening surveillance systems and conducting additional vaccinations to fill existing immunity gaps.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children and can cause serious complications, including severe diarrhea, ear infections, blindness, pneumonia and encephalitis, some of which can be fatal. The most affected age groups include children aged 1 to 9 years. and young adults ages 20 to 29.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) previously announced that measles cases in Europe increased to over 40,000 last year (2023), a nearly 45-fold increase compared to the previous year, and called for urgent vaccination for slow the spread. According to WHO monitoring, at least 42,605 cases were reported in the European Region during the year, a 45-fold increase compared to 937 cases in the previous year (2022). In Western Asia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, the epidemic has increased since the middle of last year. After October, the number of cases also gradually spread to Eastern Europe, Asia, Azerbaijan, Romania and other countries in some parts of the UK has increased significantly since December last year. Warning The epidemic will expand and spread.

Cases were also reported in some areas of the United States last year. In countries close to Taiwan such as Malaysia and the Philippines, the epidemic has continued to increase since the second half of last year. In Southeast Asia, outbreaks have also been reported in India, Indonesia and other countries reported in Taiwan this year. “Fox News” reported that measles cases have recently increased in most parts of the world, mainly because many people did not get vaccinated during the COVID-19 period. At the time, health systems were overwhelmed by the heavy burden of Covid-19 and fell behind on routine vaccinations, including against measles.

Natasha Crowcroft, WHO senior technical advisor for measles and rubella, said: “What worries us is that there are huge gaps in local immunization plans this year. If we don’t fill them with a vaccine as soon as possible, measles will spread.” It is possible to break through the defense and take advantage of the gap.” “According to the results obtained by the CDC and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on WHO data, more than half of the world’s countries will face high risks or extremely high levels of epidemics by the end of this year.”