Last year, 22 million infants missed their first dose of the measles vaccine. That’s three million more than in 2019. The US government health agency warns: The risk of an epidemic is increasing.
- The CDC is alerting that the lack of measles vaccination may put us in front of the specter of another epidemic
- An estimated 22 million children have not received the measles vaccine as a result of the pandemic
- Measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. Poland has already lost population immunity to this disease
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The CDC is an American government agency whose main task is to prevent diseases, mainly infectious, and to identify potential threats. Specialists working at the CDC have just released a new report on measles. The analyzes published on the agency’s websites show that although the number of measles cases reported has declined in the past year compared to previous years, however the risk of an epidemic is increasing.
COVID-19 may contribute to the measles epidemic
This is because the number of infants vaccinated with the first dose of the measles preparation is very low. Last year over 22 million infants did not receive the vaccine. This is three million more than in 2019. This means the largest increase in 20 years and creates dangerous potential conditions for an epidemic.
The US government agency urges individual countries to strengthen the vaccination system so that reduce the risk of contracting this serious disease. At the same time, specialists emphasize that in 2020 the number of cases of measles incidence decreased. Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of the CDC’s Immunization Department, however, suspects that this is “the calm before the storm”.
Even before the pandemic, we saw how even a small shortage of measles immunization could trigger unprecedented outbreaks, including in countries where the disease has been judged to be eradicated. And now COVID-19 is creating ever-increasing gaps at a pace we haven’t seen in decades.
Not only the CDC is raising the alarm. In October, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that forgotten diseases were returning, including tuberculosis and measles. Read more HERE.
The situation is really serious also in Poland. A few months ago, UNICEF Polska reported that the level of vaccination of children against measles in our country has dropped to below 93%. This means that we have lost herd immunity to the disease. Over the last 10 years, the number of vaccination refusals in Poland has increased by almost 14 times. This translated into an increase in the number of new cases.
- Find out more: We’ve lost herd immunity to measles. All because of refusal of vaccinations
The rest of the article under the video.
Measles: what is the disease
Measles is an infectious disease of the respiratory tract, caused by the measles virus (paramyxovirus). Although an effective vaccine has been developed, the disease still remains one of the leading causes of death in children in developing countries. Additionally, measles viruses are among the most contagious in the world.
All children who lack immunity and have previously had contact with the virus are infected. Measles in children is much more severe than in adults. A vaccine is an effective fight against the disease. You can buy the measles vaccine from Medonet Market.
Read more:
- Measles – WHO is alerting about the record increase in the incidence in Europe in 2018
- Coronavirus has stopped measles epidemic?
- Infectious diseases of childhood in adults
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