WHO raises alarm over 300% increase in case of measles globally

April 16: World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarm over a 300 percent increase in the case of measles globally in the first quarter of 2019 compared with last year. The UN body said provisional data has indicated a a clear trend, with all regions of the world seeing outbreaks.

The WHO has said yesterday that the early trends for 2019 likely underestimated the severity of the outbreaks since only about one in 10 actual measles cases was reported. So far this year, 170 countries have reported 112,163 measles cases to WHO.

At this time in 2018, 163 countries had reported 28,124 cases. It also added that Africa has witnessed the most dramatic rise – up 700% which has weaker vaccination coverage than other regions. Measles, an airborne infection causing fever, cough and rashes that can be deadly in rare cases – had been officially eliminated in many countries with advanced healthcare systems.