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WHO Issues Dire Warning After Measles Cases Increase 300% Globally In 2019 Alone

WHO Issues Dire Warning After Measles Cases Increase 300% Globally In 2019 Alone

The World Health organisation (WHO) has raised alarm over the surge in cases of measles since the beginning of 2019 and that it keeps getting worse despite the availability of a perfect vaccine. Health organizations around the world are also urging anyone without the measles vaccine to get immunization for themselves and their children as soon as possible.

Two new frightening statistics on the disease came out on Monday morning. First, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that there have been more than 110,000 measles cases reported around the world, surely with more cases not yet reported. That is 300 percent more cases than at this point in 2018 – and the number of measles cases has already been growing over the last few years.

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“Over recent months, spikes in case numbers have also occurred in countries with high overall vaccination coverage,

including the United States of America as well as Israel, Thailand and Tunisia,

as the disease has spread fast among clusters of unvaccinated people,” 

WHO said in a statement.

They continued:

“The disease is almost entirely preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine.

For several years, however, global coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine has stalled at 85 percent.

This is still short of the 95 percent needed to prevent outbreaks,

Measles killed an estimated 110,000 people around the globe last year, mostly children. Even in countries with the best medical support, 1 to 2 out of every 1,000 children who contracts the measles will die, and considerably more will suffer lifetime disabilities, such as hearing loss or brain damage.

For this reason, it’s important to reach “herd immunity” of 95 percent, so that even those who can’t get the vaccine for some reason (such as infants or the immunocompromised) are protected from the disease.

“I’m obviously very concerned about the size and also acceleration of the current outbreak,

this is not going to stop on its own.”

Dr. Nancy Messonier of the CDC told CNN.

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Yet another public health expert, Ogbonnaya Omenka blames the spike in the incidence of measles on misinformation and lack of trust. Speaking to USA Today, he said:

Why are these outbreaks happening now, even though we have a perfectly great vaccine for the disease?

Part of the answer lies in the anti-vaccination movement,

which relies on social media networks and echo chambers to spread fake information about the dangers of vaccines.

The impacts of misinformation and lack of trust have not been fully appreciated.

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