Global measles cases nearly doubled in a year
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Key takeaways:
- There were more than 320,000 cases of measles worldwide in 2023, an 88% increase over 2022.
- Global measles vaccine coverage has recovered from COVID-19 pandemic lows but remains far below the 95% target.
The number of global measles cases nearly doubled in 1 year after a decline in vaccine coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts.
Experts presented data at the ESCMID Global Congress showing an 88% increase in global measles cases from 2022 to 2023 and a tripling of the number of countries experiencing a large or disruptive measles outbreak.
In the United States, nearly one-third of all measles cases since 2020 have been reported in 2024, CDC researchers reported last month. Measles vaccine coverage in the U.S. has remained below 95% — the rate widely considered necessary to prevent outbreaks — for the last 3 years at roughly 93%.
Rates for most childhood vaccinations dropped globally during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a record 40 million children missing their first or second dose of the MMR vaccine in 2021. In 2022, measles deaths rose by roughly 40%.
Outbreaks have popped up in nations where local transmission of measles has been eliminated, including in the U.S. The CDC has warned that a recent rise in cases could threaten the country’s elimination status.
The U.S. was declared to have eliminated endemic transmission of measles in 2000. It would lose that status if a travel-related outbreak persisted for more than a year.
“With the missed routine measles vaccinations during the pandemic, there are more people that are susceptible to measles,” Patrick O’Connor, MD, MPH, of the WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, told Healio.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic measures were lifted and we started traveling and going to work and school and not wearing masks, the measles virus started transmitting again, and with a significant number of susceptible individuals,” he said.
According to O’Connor, there have been nearly 95,000 measles cases globally so far in 2024, putting the world on track to at least match the 321,582 cases reported in 2023 — which was an 88% increase over the 171,153 reported in 2022.
Nearly half the cases reported this year (42,767, or 45%) have been reported in Europe. Yemen, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have the highest reported incidences in the world.
In the last 12 months for which data are available, the number of countries experiencing large or disruptive outbreaks — defined as 20 million cases per million population continuously over a 12-month period — tripled from 17 countries to 51, according to WHO.
Roughly 94% of measles cases occur in low- and lower middle income countries, an increase of 14 percentage points from 2017 to 2022. The proportion of cases in high-income countries dropped from 5% to 1%.
Experts have raised concern that the United Kingdom’s measles elimination status may also be in danger — again. The U.K. lost its measles elimination status in 2019, then regained it in 2021. However, since October 2023, there have been 1,294 measles cases in England.
O’Connor said countries experiencing outbreaks need to conduct immunization activities to stop transmission and boost immunity, adding that clinical management of measles cases is also important because of the range of complications an infection can cause.
“For public health officers and clinicians, it’s important to get those individuals that missed a measles dose during the pandemic years to get vaccinated,” O’Connor said. “Because of all the disruptions during the pandemic, some may not know that they missed doses, and where there are large groups that need to be vaccinated, a campaign or large-scale immunization activity should be planned.”
References:
- ECDC. Measles – annual epidemiological report for 2023. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/measles-annual-epidemiological-report-2023. Published March 14, 2024. Accessed May 1, 2024.
- ESCMID. Global measles cases double in almost a year. https://www.escmid.org/fileadmin/escmid/media/pdf/press_releases/2024/2024-q2/Press_release_measlesrevisedfinal_20240428.pdf. Published April 29, 2024. Accessed May 1, 2024.
- National measles standard incident – measles epidemiology (from Oct. 2023). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-epidemiology-2023/national-measles-standard-incident-measles-epidemiology-from-october-2023. Updated April 25, 2024. Accessed May 1, 2024.
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