Boom in measles and whooping cough cases in Europe, with a rebound in infections after the decline recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) denounced the trend on the occasion of European Immunization Week.
“The number of measles cases – reports the ECDC – began to increase in 2023 and this trend continued in several Member States of the European Union. Between March 2023 and the end of February 2024, at least 5,770 cases of measles were reported, with at least 5 deaths. The highest risk is among children under one year old, who are too young to be vaccinated”, but “should be protected by community immunity”.
The numbers in Europe
“Measles spreads very easily, therefore to interrupt transmission, high vaccination coverage is essential, equal to at least 95% of the population vaccinated with two doses. Since mid-2023 – continues the ECDC – it has been reported an increase in cases of whooping cough in several EU and European Economic Area countries, with preliminary data indicating cases more than tenfold in 2023 and 2024 compared to 2022 and 2021. Young people are at greater risk of serious illness and death. To best protect them, it is essential to ensure that all recommended vaccines are administered on time. Vaccination during pregnancy can also protect young children.”
“It is disheartening to see that, despite decades of well-documented vaccine safety and efficacy, EU/EEA countries are still facing epidemics of several vaccine-preventable diseases,” says Andrea Ammon, director of the ECDC. “Achieving and maintaining high vaccination coverage, disease surveillance and timely response actions to control epidemics remain the key actions against these diseases. Vaccines have protected many generations and we should ensure that this continues to be the case.”
Measles cases increased 60-fold in WHO European Region
“The decline in vaccination rates in some countries in the European Region” of the World Health Organization “between 2020 and 2022 highlights the vulnerability of our successes” against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.
“Over the past 3 years, more than 1.8 million children in the WHO European Region have skipped vaccination against measles. The consequence is a 60-fold increase in the number of measles cases in 2023 compared to 2022″, report Hans Kluge, WHO director for Europe, Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF director for Europe and Asia central, and Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, on the occasion of European Immunization Week.
“Our determination to provide the benefits of vaccination to everyone, everywhere must not waver,” they warn in a joint statement. “Amidst multiple crises and the spread of misinformation in the region, WHO, UNICEF and the European Commission are committed to continuing to work together, in close collaboration with Member States across Europe, to support health systems and ensure equitable access to vaccination services. Together – they assure – we will continue to raise public awareness of the benefits of vaccination and to strengthen vaccine confidence to support public demand for vaccines, now and in the future. At the same time, we will continue to help ensure that health systems are adequately prepared for any future epidemics and pandemics. In our common goal of ensuring healthier and safer lives for current and future generations – they warn – it is essential that vaccination remains a cornerstone of public health.
WHO, Unicef and the European Commission list the successes of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). Institute 50 years ago, “represented a pivotal moment in the history of public health and saved millions of lives globally every year.”
“In 1974 – they highlight – only 5% of the world's children had been vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Today this percentage has risen to almost 85% of children in the world and 94% in the WHO European region. Only 5 years after the introduction of Epi, smallpox was eradicated. Since then, the geographic range of the wild poliovirus has shrunk to just 2 countries and the threat of several serious infectious diseases of children has declined dramatically. Continued innovation in the field of immunology has led to the development of vaccines capable of protecting against even more diseases, opening up the possibility in the European Region of eliminating hepatitis B and cervical cancer in the near future.” But “as we celebrate these monumental achievements, which have protected the health of multiple generations, we remain in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact on our societies and economies, health systems and healthcare delivery.”
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