Urgent measures are needed now to stop further spread, the World Health Organization says.

There was an “alarming” nearly 45-fold increase in measles cases in Europe last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Health chiefs are warning that cases are still rising and “urgent measures” are needed to prevent further spread.

Some 42,200 people were infected in 2023, compared to 941 during the whole of 2022.

The WHO believes this is a result of fewer children being vaccinated against the disease during the Covid pandemic.

In the UK, health officials said last week that an outbreak of highly contagious measles in the West Midlands could spread rapidly to other towns and cities with low vaccination rates.

More than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are unprotected and at risk of becoming ill from the disease, according to NHS England.

  • Goku@lemmy.worldEnglish
    441·
    10 months ago

    It really sucks to be the kid of negligent anti vax parent in situations like these.

    There should be a resource (I’m sure there probably is) for kids to get vaxxed without their parents’ knowledge.

    Sad thing is though that a large portion of those kids can’t reason passed the brainwashing from their looneytune parents and won’t take advantage of those resources.

    • The Pantser@lemmy.worldEnglish
      221·
      10 months ago

      Just start charging the parents for biological warfare for every child that contracts it from their own. Parents will quickly start vaxxing if others are going to prison.

      Sure it’s your right to not vax but if you kill others willingly you are getting charged.

    • Lath@kbin.social
      105·
      10 months ago

      COVID took precedence over all else during that pandemic and resources from otherwise regular activities such as mass vaccination in schools for measles were ignored.
      So it’s less the problem of antivax parents and more the amazingly poor organizational skills of our institutions.

  • ryannathansEnglish
    313·
    10 months ago

    Measles is sooo bad. It essestially completely resets your immune system to that of an infant. You lose ALL immune memory and immunity to everything you’ve caught before or been vaccinated for.

  • SpiceDealer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    10 months ago

    If Hell is real, there’s special place there for Andrew Wakefield, Joseph Mercola, and Jenny McCarthy.

    • jimbolauski@lemm.eeEnglish
      12·
      10 months ago

      The US is going to explode half the people entering the US illegally are not vaccinated, then we bus them all around the country.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    In the UK, health officials said last week that an outbreak of highly contagious measles in the West Midlands could spread rapidly to other towns and cities with low vaccination rates.

    It often starts with a high fever and a rash, which normally clears up within 10 days - but complications can include pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.

    All countries in the European region are being asked to detect and respond to measles outbreaks quickly, alongside giving vaccines to more people.

    “The Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted immunisation system performance in this period, resulting in an accumulation of un-[vaccinated] and under-vaccinated children,” the WHO reported.

    With international travel booming once again, and social-distancing measures removed, the risk of measles spreading across borders and within communities is much greater - especially within under-vaccinated populations, it said.

    If you are reading this page and can’t see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected].

    The original article contains 675 words, the summary contains 170 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!