China News Agency, Beijing, November 24. Comprehensive news: The World Health Organization said on the 23rd that nearly 40 million children will not be vaccinated against measles in 2021, a record high. Measles has become a global threat.
A report jointly released by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 23rd pointed out that in 2021, there will be about 9 million measles cases and about 128,000 measles deaths worldwide, and large-scale measles outbreaks have occurred in 22 countries ; Nearly 40 million children were not vaccinated against measles that year, a record high.
This represents the imminent threat of measles to the world.
The report pointed out that the decline in measles vaccination rate and the disruption of the global measles surveillance system by the new crown epidemic are important reasons for the increase in the threat of measles.
Measles is a highly contagious disease. Most of the infected people are children. The clinical symptoms include fever, upper respiratory tract infection, conjunctivitis, etc. It can be fatal in severe cases.
There is currently no cure for measles, and vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles.
According to WHO statistics, from 2000 to 2018, measles vaccination has reduced the number of global measles deaths by 73%.
The report emphasizes that the vaccination rate of children with two doses of measles vaccine must reach 95% or above to effectively prevent the outbreak of measles.
Only 81% of children worldwide have received their first dose of measles vaccine, the lowest level since 2008.
Patrick O'Connor, the head of WHO's measles prevention and control, said in an interview with Reuters that although the number of measles cases has not increased significantly compared with previous years, now is the time to take action to control the epidemic. Years to 2 years will be extremely challenging." (End)