Measles Cases Nearly Double Globally in One Year

The measles’ threat continues to grow as cases globally nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, CNN reported. In 2022, 171,153 cases emerged globally, according to Dr. Patrick O’Connor of the World Health Organization (WHO), who presented the research on April 27 at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Global Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Provisional data shows 321,582 cases for 2023 and more than 94,000 so far this year, although the number is probably much higher.

Almost half of this year’s cases have been in WHO’s European Region, with the highest occurrence in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Yemen. About 45% of measles outbreaks occur in conflict-affected and fragile countries, O’Connor said.

Additionally, the United States has reported 128 measles cases this year, which is the highest number since 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than half (55%) of U.S. cases required hospitalization for isolation or for management of measles complications, the CDC reported.

So far this year, measles cases have occurred in 20 states, and seven outbreaks (defined as three or more reported cases) were reported or 67% of cases are outbreak-associated. Last year, only four outbreaks were reported in the U.S., amounting to 48% of cases being outbreak-associated.

The most recent U.S. measles outbreak is occurring in Chicago, which began on March 7. While Chicago has one of the highest measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates in the nation, the city has reported 64 cases this year (Case counts include Chicago residents diagnosed with measles and non-Chicago residents associated with the Chicago-based measles outbreak.). In February, CMM previously reported on the measles outbreaks in Florida and Kentucky.

Still, measles was proclaimed eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, “meaning there is no measles spreading within the country and new cases are only found when someone contracts measles abroad and returns,” the CDC said. However, the rapid rise in cases this year poses a threat to that disease elimination status, the agency said.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease, and general symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes, and a rash of red spots. Measles can cause serious health consequences or death, especially for young and unvaccinated children.

Measles is preventable though with two doses of measles vaccine. O’Connor said that measles vaccination has prevented an estimated 57 million deaths between 2000 and 2022.

In the U.S., the CDC recommends that children get the first dose of the vaccine that protects against MMR between 12 and 15 months of age. Children get a second shot between 4 and 6 years of age.

The U.S. has set a target vaccination rate of 95%, but the CDC said last year coverage among kindergarteners has dipped below that in recent years. In the 2022-23 school year, only 93.1% of kindergarteners in the U.S. had completed their MMR vaccine series, leaving about 250,000 at risk.