The US could lose the status of elimination of measles, while in Europe only three countries reach the vaccination coverage required.
«We live in a world post-immunity of flockand I think you try the measles epidemic. ” It is the message delivered to Guardian From Paul Offit, an expert in infectious diseases and immunology as well as director of the Children’s Hospital Vaccine Center in Philadelphia. “Morbillo – the most contagious among the diseases preventable by vaccines and the most contagious human disease – is the first infection that reappears”, the canary in the coal minethat is, typically the first spy of a weakening of the global health system.
Erosion of a conquest. The United States are struggling with the worst measles epidemic of the last 25 years. On May 1, the American CDC reported 935 cases confirmed by measles in 30 jurisdictions. About one in three children under the age of five involved in the epidemic (285 small children) was hospitalized in the hospital. The US eliminated measles from their territory in 2000, but the elimination status is at risk, and could fail after 12 months of sustained transmission of the virus.
Cultural factors. The transmission is also active in countries that with the USA borders, in particular Mexico and Canada. Overall, in the American region of the WHO About 2,300 cases of measles have been reported in the last weekly update. The risk of contracting measles in the Americas is currently considered high, 11 times higher than 2024. Overseas, the transmission seems supported within the Mennonite communities, widespread in the southwest American, Mexico and Canada, probably due to the sporadic contacts between these religious groups and the health authorities.
The measles does not care. It is prevented. The messy messages on vaccines launched by the United States Secretary of the Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr, together with the threats of making vaccines less accessible and advertisements of further investigations on their (already established by decades of scientific studies) safety, feed A non -slip climate which undermines the foundations of the immunity of flock e they affect the health of American citizens very health. When visiting the community most affected by measles in the County of Gaines, in Texas, Kennedy has gone to say that the clarithromycin antibiotic and the Budesonide steroid guarantee a “miraculous and instantaneous recovery” from measles.
Morbillo is a viral disease whose cause is not negotiable (therapies only relieve symptoms). But it is highly preventable thanks to vaccines with an effectiveness of 97%, the MPR, which protects against measles, parotitis and rubella, and the Mprv, which also protects from chickenpox.
Not a simple exanthema. In addition to not being a cure against measles, the complications of the infection can be very serious. The measles virus is lethal for a child out of 1,000 infected, and involves similar percentages of encephalitis (brain inflammation), which can cause permanent disabilities. The measles also suppresses the immune system and makes vulnerable for years to other infections.
Europe does not give a good example. Therefore, the information that comes from our continent are not reassuring. Based on the data issued in April by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), measles contagues in Europe were In 2024 ten times higher than the previous yearwith 87% of cases concentrated in Romania (followed by Austria, Belgium and Ireland).
In 2024, the cases of measles in Europe also have, compared to previous years, followed a seasonal trend – from February to July, with a decline in the second part of the year – although with a significant increase in cases compared to pre -plants. In 2024, Only three European countries (Hungary, Malta and Portugal) They reached or exceeded 95% coverage for both doses of vaccine required to obtain the immunity of flock.
