Europe is facing a measles outbreak
Backstory: The pandemic and rising hesitancy slowed vaccinations.
A false claim in the 1990s that the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism led to a decline in immunization rates. Public health campaigns later made up much of that shortfall, but numbers fell again during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in low-income countries.
The measles virus is particularly adept at pinpointing vulnerabilities, but outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases could follow, said Dr. Saad Omer, dean of the O'Donnell School of Public Health at UT Southwestern in Dallas.
“Measles is usually the canary in the coal mine,” said Dr. Omer.
In the United States, Philadelphia has recorded nine cases of measles this year, Washington state has confirmed three cases and is investigating three more, and several states are tracing the contacts of a single case each.
Since January, 49 countries have experienced what the WHO calls “major or disruptive outbreaks,” said Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, a senior adviser on measles and rubella at the organization.
Britain confirmed 250 cases of measles in 2023, most of them in children under the age of 10. Last year in Europe, one in five cases was in an adult aged 20 or older, according to the WHO.
Those numbers may seem modest, but they are a sign that public health officials need to step up immunization campaigns, Dr. Omer said.
“When a fire just breaks out, that's the time to go all in and put out the fire right away, rather than waiting for the fire to spread,” he said.
The red line: the vaccination rate must not fall below 95 percent.
To keep measles under control, at least 95 percent of the population must be vaccinated. In Europe, the percentage of people who had received a first dose fell from 96 percent in 2019 to 93 percent in 2022.
Between 2020 and 2022, more than 1.8 million infants missed their measles vaccination.
“We actually knew this was going to happen, so it's not news to us,” said Dr. Crowcroft on the increase in measles cases in Europe.
“There are times when there is absolutely no pleasure in being right, and this is one of those times.”