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The coronavirus pandemic has reduced the number of measles cases in the past two years. However, due to the insufficient level of vaccination against this disease in Poland, after the obligation to wear masks is lifted, the disease may appear again. – Measles is many times more contagious than COVID-19. One sick person can infect up to 18 others – emphasizes the infectious diseases specialist.
- In 2019, the number of measles cases in Poland reached a level unheard of for years
- – During the pandemic, this suddenly disappeared. The reasons are masks and covid lockdown – says prof. Andrzej Fal
- Communists fear what will happen when we abandon the habits of the coronavirus era
- According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), in terms of the incidence rate (number of cases per 100 inhabitants), Poland is at the forefront of Europe, and the vaccination rate fell below the level of herd immunity a few years ago
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Measles – less and less vaccinations in Poland
Last year, a dramatic appeal from UNICEF Poland was issued, which spoke of a progressive decline in the number of children receiving vaccines included in the calendar of compulsory vaccinations against infectious diseases. This is especially true of diseases such as measles, rubella and mumps.
More and more parents are refusing vaccinations. According to the National Institute of Public Health PZH – PIB, the number of refusals in Poland has increased almost fourteen times in recent years. In 2010, 3 thousand. 437 exemptions from compulsory vaccinations, in 2016 there were 23 thousand. 147 repealing, in 2019 already 48 thousand. 609, and in 2020 – 50 thousand. 575.
– The measles virus has a high reproduction rate, so to be safe it must be around 95 percent. – Barbara Hasiec, MD, a specialist in paediatrics and infectious diseases, said recently in an interview with Medonet.
According to the data of the National Institute of Hygiene, the percentage of children vaccinated with the basic dose of MMR (combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine) in Poland fell below this limit already in 2017 and is constantly falling. Currently, it is around 92 percent. That means we’ve lost herd immunity to measles.
– Measles, even in the period before the pandemic, aroused great emotions, because we vaccinate with live attenuated vaccine. We still have a rumor linking the measles vaccine to autism. Anti-vaccine workers refer to work from the 90s, which has long ago been verified as untrue. Unfortunately, false courts have been lingering in Poland for 30 years, autism in various forms still returns and generates problems with vaccinations. Over the years, despite hundreds of studies, it was not possible to unscrew it – explained Dr. Hasiec.
- The doctor who deceived the world. He linked autism with vaccines
Measles vaccine
The measles vaccine comes as a combined (combined) vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). It consists of live, weakened viruses. It does not contain adjuvants.
According to the Protective (free) vaccination program, each child should be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine at 13-15 months of age and a supplementary dose at 6 years of age, in order to obtain long-term immunity.
Adults can also get vaccinated (for a fee). Vaccination with the MMR vaccine is recommended: adults who were not vaccinated against measles in childhood, people who received only one dose of the vaccine in the past, young women, especially those working in children’s environments (kindergartens, schools, hospitals, clinics).
- Find out more: Combined and highly-associated vaccinations – types, disadvantages, advantages and prices
Vaccination efficiency after administration of 2 doses of the vaccine is 98-99%. lasts for life. The MMR vaccine is safe.
– In our country, the history of vaccination against measles is quite short. General vaccinations have been in force since 1975. First, it was one dose, but in 1991 we introduced a second dose for children in the age of 10, and basically from 2004, two doses are required, says Dr. Hasiec.
Measles – falling ill
The increasing number of vaccination refusals has been reflected in measles-related statistics. In 2019, 1,5 thousand people fell ill with measles in Poland. people. This is more than four times more than the year before (359 cases) and 24 times more than in 2017 (63).
These numbers have been completely different in the last two years. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted reports of infectious diseases. Diagnostics or treatment have changed, and a different approach of Poles to infectious diseases has also done its job, and due to the imposed pandemic restrictions, we took more care of prevention.
- Find out more: We’ve lost herd immunity to measles. All because of refusal of vaccinations
The epidemiological reports of the National Institute of Hygiene show that in 2020 29 people fell ill with measles, in 2021 – 14. In the first two months of 2022, 4 cases of measles were found.
– During the pandemic, we suffered less from infectious diseases of the respiratory system, but not only. An example is measles, which is also a drip-borne disease and has decreased significantly during the pandemic. And yet, before the COVID-19 pandemic, we had alarming spikes in the incidence of measles in Europe. It looked very menacing and suddenly disappeared. Of course, there is a reason. The reasons are masks and covid lockdown – explained prof. Andrzej M. Fal, specialist in internal diseases and allergology, head of the Department of Allergology, Lung Diseases and Internal Diseases at the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw in an interview.
Measles could strike after a pandemic
Experts warn that as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to expire and the latest sanitation restrictions are over, measles may become dangerous again. We noticed the increases in measles incidence in pre-pandemic times not only in Poland. Or Ukraine, from which more than 2 million people have already come to us and which has become a kind of “scarecrow” when it comes to the level of vaccination against COVID-19 and infectious diseases. Odra returned to many countries in Europe and the world.
– In 2018, we saw a high percentage of measles cases in Ukraine, almost 32 thousand. Similarly, in Our Country, Serbia, but also in other countries – in France, Greece, Italy and Great Britain – the statistics show the number of cases reaching thousands – noted Dr. Hasiec.
- Find out more: Could hantaviruses cause a pandemic? They also appear in Poland [NEW PANDEMIA?]
The doctor emphasizes that there is still no cure against the measles virus. The only weapon is the vaccine because «in the case of infectious diseases, there is no other option: we either get sick or vaccinate ”.
– Certain groups of society cannot be vaccinated, it is mainly about small children, because we vaccinate from 13 to 15 months of age, as well as children with reduced immunity, diagnosed with cancer, after organ transplants and after immunosuppressive treatment. We have a large group of children who cannot be immunized and who need to be secured. We protect them through the cocoon effect, in other words, through the high vaccination coverage of the population – he points out.
Measles is back around the world
The end of the previous decade brought a new wave of measles cases around the world. In 2010-2016, the number of cases of this disease decreased, but – according to the World Health Organization – in 2019 there were already 867. illnesses. This is the most in 23 years. Deaths are also on the rise. 2019 died of measles in 207 people. This is an increase by half compared to 2016.
- See also: Measles is not a mild childhood disease
The reason for this was the delay in vaccinating children with two doses of the vaccine, and the pandemic further exacerbated this condition. Between 2000 and 2019, the proportion of children aged 13-24 months vaccinated with a single dose of measles vaccine increased from 72% to 86%, but decreased to 2020% in 84. The decline in vaccination coverage has been recorded in almost all regions of the world, including Europe. According to the WHO report from November 2020, 93 million people worldwide were at risk of not receiving measles vaccination.
Measles – a dangerous and very contagious disease
Two years of the pandemic have brought us several variants of the coronavirus. From the original Wuhan strain to Alpha and Delta to Omikron, their infectivity grew. However, even Omicron’s extremely contagious sub-variant BA.2 is unimpressive when juxtaposed with measles.
– Measles is many times more contagious than COVID-19. One sick person can infect up to 18 others. This is three times more than the flu or SARS-CoV-2. With such a scale of virus transmission and a further decrease in the number of vaccinations, the measles outbreak will have catastrophic consequences, said Dr. Hanna Czajka, an infectious disease specialist last year.
What is the death rate of measles? On average, one person in every thousand infected dies.
– The “success” of measles is that, first of all, as a viral infection it is very difficult, it causes various types of complications in the acute phase – laryngitis, severe encephalitis or pneumonia. In addition, during the period when measles was not controlled by vaccination, we observed children developing subacute sclerosing encephalitis syndrome (SSPE) after having had measles, explained Dr. Hasiec.
- Also read: Highly lethal Lassa virus in Europe. It can also reach Poland. What are the symptoms? [NEW PANDEMIC?]
Complications in people who develop measles affect about 30 percent. sick. They usually concern the youngest patients, especially the unvaccinated, as well as people with immunodeficiency and the elderly.
Need more virus protection? You can buy an antibacterial and antiviral disinfectant at Medonet Market.
Complications after measles may include bacterial pneumonia, middle ear and laryngitis, diarrhea and convulsions. However, the most dangerous are the neurological complications: primary encephalitis; meningitis, inflammation of the spinal cord, inflammation of polyneuritis or cranial nerves, or subacute sclerosing encephalitis (LESS), which develops many years after the onset of measles and ends in death.
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