Measles cases hit record high in Europe in 2018

• Main Author: Leong, Wei Yee
• Other Authors: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Science::Medicine; Measles; Europe
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/144466
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Cases of measles in Europe have hit a record high, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).1 More than 41 000 people have been infected in the first 6 months of 2018, leading to 39 deaths.1,2 The total number for this period far exceeds the 12-month totals reported for every other year this decade. In 2016, there were 23 927 cases whilst in the year before there were only 5273. The number of cases of measles in the UK from January to June of 2018 quadrupled compared with the previous 6 months. Eight countries in the European region have reported over 1000 infections in children and adults between July 2017 and June 2018 (France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, the Russian Federation, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine).2 Ukraine experienced the largest outbreak, with over 23 000 people affected, accounting for over half of the regional total. Measles-related deaths have been reported in all of these countries, with Romania reporting the highest number with 22 deaths as of 1 August 2018. Table 1 summarizes the incidence per 1 million population and the absolute numbers of measles cases in the European region, as extracted from WHO sources.2 Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia and Greece are the countries with the highest measles incidence per 1 million population.