"Alarming upsurge" in measles has devastating impact, WHO warns

By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Measles is staging a devastating
comeback in epidemics across the world as the virus exploits
dangerous gaps in vaccination coverage, World Health
Organization (WHO) experts said on Friday.
Speaking after a two-day meeting of the Strategic Advisory
Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization, Kate O'Brien, the WHO's
department director, said the world "is facing an alarming
upsurge in measles cases in all regions".
"The impact of these outbreaks is really devastating," she
said, "causing not only widespread loss of life, but also
preventable disability that is affecting family livelihoods and
national economies, and straining healthcare systems."
Latest WHO global data show that reported cases of measles -
which is one of the world's most contagious diseases - rose by
300 percent globally in the first three months of this year
compared to the same period in 2018. This follows consecutive
increases over the past two years.
There is no specific antiviral treatment for measles, but it
can be prevented with two doses of vaccine. The vast majority of
cases of infection are in unvaccinated or under-vaccinated
people.
Outbreaks of the disease are causing tens of thousands of
infections and thousands of deaths the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Madagascar, the Philippines, Sudan, Thailand and
Ukraine, among other countries, the WHO said.
The SAGE experts said such outbreaks were clear indications
of critical gaps in vaccination coverage and urged authorities
to do more to raise rates of immunisation.
Alejandro Cravioto, the group's chair, told reporters on a
teleconference from the WHO's Geneva headquarters that this was
"an alarming situation".
He said latest global figures show about 86% coverage with a
first measles vaccine dose and less than 70% for a second dose,
"which is one of the root causes of the problem".
"The strategy needs to be reinforced," he said. "There is no
reason why we cannot try to reach every child to enable them to
be fully immunised and protected against this disease."

(Editing by William Maclean)