For many years, the number of reported measles cases in the world has generally been declining, thanks to the spread of a vaccine. It has saved about 30 million lives over the last 20 years, but the disease can flare up sharply again. In 2019, the measles infection exploded and more than doubled, but in 2020 the infection fell by more than 80%. This is shown by the latest figures in a report from the WHO and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC). Closures have been both good and bad for health Peter Henrik Andersen, a ward doctor at the Danish Statens Serum Institut specializing in vaccination prevention diseases, believes that the large fall in cases of measles is due to the efforts against a completely different disease, namely covid-19. According to the WHO, the closure of the world in general has had a major negative effect on the world’s poorest. More people have been pushed further into poverty, and deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria have increased as access to health services has become more difficult. But there has also been a positive effect of the shutdown: – I believe that the main explanation for the large fall in measles infections globally in 2020, is the extensive restrictions that the world has introduced in the last two years. Distance requirements and the use of face masks, together with more thorough hand washing and disinfection, have made it more difficult for both measles and a number of other respiratory diseases to spread, he says. – We can see, among other things, that the number of cases of pertussis has fallen. Just before the outbreak of covid-19, we had a very large outbreak of pertussis in Denmark, and from April 2020 until today, there are almost no cases. Can still manage to prevent new major outbreaks Peter Henrik Andersen explains that the sharp increase in the number of measles cases just before the covid hit is due to the fact that the disease often comes in waves where you see large measles outbreaks. This then leads to increased immunity, but the immunity disappears again and therefore there may be new major outbreaks. At the same time, this means that when fewer people have been infected during the covid pandemic, new major outbreaks may occur later. – One can well fear that there may be a new wave of measles and other respiratory diseases when the world lifts covid restrictions. The best way to counteract this is to ensure that as many children as possible are vaccinated against childhood diseases, both in Denmark and in the rest of the world, says the ward doctor. According to the WHO, the closures during the covid pandemic have led to more than 22 million young children missing out on their first measles vaccine. That is three million more than the year before. But Peter Henrik Andersen is still cautiously hopeful. – In the short term, there has been a decrease in the number of vaccinations against measles, during the covid pandemic, but we can still make up for lost time if the countries of the world focus on vaccinating the children before they become infected, concludes Peter Henrik Andersen.
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After covid, the fight against measles and other major diseases continues
