The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned that the risk of measles outbreaks is mounting, as over 22.3 million infants missed their first dose of the vaccine due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The agencies in a report released on Wednesday listed Nigeria and nine other countries at most risk due to the high burden of infants that did not receive their vaccine doses leaving them vulnerable. These countries account for nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of the global total.
“The Ten countries with the highest numbers of infants not receiving Measles- Containing Vaccine (MCV1) in 2020 were Nigeria (3.3 million), India (2.6 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.5 million), Ethiopia (1.4 million), Indonesia (1.1 million), Pakistan (1.0 million),” the report read.
Others are Angola, the Philippines, Brazil, and Afghanistan all below one million infants.
The report disclosed that the number of unvaccinated children is the largest in 20 years, adding that critical gaps in disease surveillance increase the risk of measles outbreaks.
Reported measles cases fell by more than 80 percent in the 2020 year compared with 2019, and about 3 million more children missed the vaccines in 2020 than the previous year, threatening global efforts to eradicate the viral disease.
Only 70 percent of kids received their second dose last year, which is well below the 95 percent threshold needed to protect communities, the report added.
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The report noted that vaccination campaigns in 23 countries, originally planned for 2020, were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic – leaving more than 93 million people at risk for the disease.
“Large numbers of unvaccinated children, outbreaks of measles, and disease detection and diagnostics diverted to support COVID-19 responses are factors that increase the likelihood of measles-related deaths and serious complications in children,” said Kevin Cain, MD, CDC’s Global Immunization Director.
“We must act now to strengthen disease surveillance systems and close immunity gaps, before travel and trade return to pre-pandemic levels, to prevent deadly measles outbreaks and mitigate the risk of other vaccine-preventable diseases,” Cain added.
Kate O’Brien, director of the department of immunization, vaccines, and biologicals, WHO said while reported measles cases dropped in 2020, evidence suggests “we are likely seeing the calm before the storm as the risk of outbreaks continues to grow around the world.”
“Countries must vaccinate as quickly as possible against COVID-19, but this requires new resources so that it does not come at the cost of essential immunization programs. Routine immunization must be protected and strengthened; otherwise, we risk trading one deadly disease for another.”
Measles is one of the world’s most contagious human viruses but is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. In the last 20 years, the measles vaccine is estimated to have averted more than 30 million deaths globally. Estimated deaths from measles dropped from around 1,070,000 in 2000 to 60,700 in 2020. The estimated number of measles cases in 2020 was 7.5 million globally.
