Measles is surging around the world, with around 10.3 million reported cases last year.
That’s an increase of 20% on 2022, according to the World Health Organization, which blames the growth in numbers on inadequate vaccine coverage.
Measles is highly contagious and potentially fatal. Young children are particularly vulnerable to the disease, which killed an estimated 107,500 people in 2023, most of whom were under 5. This is an increase of about 8% on the year before.
Countries need almost all children (95%) to have two measles shots to prevent outbreaks of the disease and keep the population safe, the WHO says.
Last year, just 74% had received both their recommended doses, while 87% had received one.
“Measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “To save even more lives and stop this deadly virus from harming the most vulnerable, we must invest in immunization for every person, no matter where they live.”
Measles signs and symptoms
Measles is airborne and spreads when infected people cough, sneeze and breath. It causes symptoms like a high fever, a cough, a runny nose and a distinctive rash that can appear over the whole body.
It can lead to severe complications including blindness, brain swelling, ear infections, severe diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Vaccines train the body to respond to the virus that causes measles, making it harder for the disease to take hold.
There’s no set treatment for measles. But caregivers can help a sick patient by making them comfortable and helping relieve their symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the U.S., measles is relatively rare. In 2023, just 59 cases were recorded nationwide, largely because of longstanding childhood vaccination programs.
Nonetheless, outbreaks still hit the country. This year, 277 cases have been recorded so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccine uptake
Vaccine skepticism is often blamed for rising measles rates. The triple measles, mumps and rubella shots that protect against the disease have long been the subject of controversy, despite scientific evidence showing they are safe and effective.
A fraudulent paper in medical journal The Lancet did much to fuel suspicion of the shots in the 1990s and early 2000. British former doctor Andrew Wakefield — who was later stripped of the title — published falsified research that appeared to show a link between the MMR shots and autism.
In reality, no such link has been found. In 2010, The Lancet retracted the paper.
But the autism rumour has still been well and truly sown. It took root in the U.S., where Wakefield went on to relocate.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has long promoted the view that vaccines cause autism.
He is currently on leave from the position of chairman at an anti-vaccine activist organization called the “Children’s Health Defense,” which is known for spreading misinformation about health issues, including measles immunization, on social media.
