Key points
- Children under five made up more than 40pc of the reported cases
- Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security: WHO
- The MMR vaccine is 97pc effective in fighting off the virus
ISLAMABAD: Health officials report that measles cases in the European region doubled last year, reaching the highest level in 25 years.
A joint report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that children under five years old made up more than 40 per cent of the reported cases in Europe and Central Asia, according to BBC.
“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call,” Hans Henri Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said. “Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security.”
The MMR vaccine – which immunises people against measles, mumps and rubella – is 97 per cent effective in fighting off the dangerous virus.
Highly contagious disease
Measles is a highly contagious disease which is spread by coughs and sneezes.
Common symptoms include: high fever, sore, red, and watery eyes, coughing, and sneezing.
The measles virus can result in pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.
The WHO/UNICEF joint report, which covers 53 countries, stated that 127,350 measles cases were reported in the European region in 2024, the highest number since 1997.
As of March 6, 2025, there have been 38 reported deaths.
Measles cases, they added, had been declining since 1997, but the trend reversed in 2018-19 and cases rose significantly in 2023-24 “following a backsliding in immunisation coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Low vaccination rates
“Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing the risk of outbreaks,” they warned.
The joint analysis stated that the European region accounted for a third of all global measles cases in 2024. Within this region, Romania reported the highest number of cases at 30,692, followed by Kazakhstan with 28,147, according to Euro News.
The WHO/UNICEF report concluded that measles remains “a significant global threat” and urged governments in affected areas to take immediate action, while those not yet impacted should be ready to respond.
In the United States, two recent deaths have been reported as the disease, which was declared “eliminated” in 2000, spreads across the country and into Canada.
The recent resurgence has been attributed to declining vaccination rates.
Unvaccinated patients
In Europe, for example, data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that eight out of 10 people diagnosed with measles last year were unvaccinated.
According to 2023 estimates, only four countries—Hungary, Malta, Portugal, and Slovakia—reached the 95 per cent vaccination threshold needed to prevent an outbreak, the ECDC reported on Tuesday.
There are also concerns in the UK as vaccination rates for two doses have dropped below 90 per cent.
Dr. Ben Kasstan-Dabush from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine cautioned people against relying on unverified information found on social media.
“We also learnt from the Covid-19 vaccination programme that misinformation can travel rapidly and can influence people’s decisions. It’s important to be mindful that the vaccine information on social media may not be based on scientific evidence,” Dr Kasstan-Dabush said.
