Measles cases in the European region surged last year to reach their highest levels since 1997, the World Health Organization and the UN’s children agency, UNICEF, said Thursday.
An analysis by WHO and UNICEF found the number of measles cases reported in European region reached 127,352 in 2024, double the reported number from the previous year.
Children younger than 5 accounted for 40% of those who contracted measles in the region, it said, adding that half a million children missed their first dose of the measles vaccine in 2023.
“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call. Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security,” Dr. Hans P. Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, said in a statement.
The rise comes after a “backsliding in immunization coverage during the pandemic,” the report said. Vaccination rates in numerous countries have yet to return to pre-Covid levels, increasing the risk of further outbreaks, it warned.
The European region accounted for a third of all measles cases globally in 2024, the report said. Immunization coverage for most of the region, it added, has fallen “below the recommended level for herd immunity, which is a vaccination rate of 95 per cent or higher.”
The situation is acute in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania where, the report says, less than 80% of eligible children were vaccinated against measles in 2023.
It stresses vaccination remains the “best line of defense against the virus,” saying that a vaccinated person exposed to measles has at least a 97% percent chance of not contracting it.