Measles is a global problem, meaning it’s everyone’s problem, researchers say
Measles isn’t on the radar screen of most Americans. Endemic transmission has not occurred in the United States since the late 1990s and in the entire Western Hemisphere since November 2002. You’d think that many health officials, especially in this country, would just relax. Not so.
The disease kills an estimated 164,000 people worldwide a year. Though that number is a far cry from the 2.6 million global measles deaths in 1980 or even the 733,000 deaths in 2000, it’s still considered much too high.
In a supplement published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, global health researchers, including those from the U.S., make the case that the highly contagious disease can and should be eliminated from the world.
They assess the feasibility of achieving such a goal, the public health implications, the economic impacts, the battle against measles across the globe and, of course, the safety and effectiveness of the measles vaccine.
For those not moved by the global potential, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that, as long as the rest of the world has measles, the Western Hemisphere will have to worry too.
The U.S. is currently experiencing the highest number of measles cases—152 so far this year—since 1996, and most have been linked to foreign countries. And since 2009, more than 1,400 deaths and 200,000 cases of the measles have been reported in 28 African countries; 30,000 cases have been reported in Europe since last year, according to a media release from the CDC.
Such a trend threatens to reverse gains made between 2000 and 2008, when measles deaths worldwide decreased by 78%, thanks in large part to widespread vaccinations supported by an international collaboration, the Measles Initiative.
A summary of the recent papers states:
“Although rapid progress has been made in recent years, there is a real risk that measles will reemerge as a major cause of childhood mortality unless urgent actions address inadequate implementation of measles mortality reduction strategies in some countries. These include weakness within immunization systems, cross-border transmission of measles virus, and insufficient political will and financial resources.”
Such problems won’t stay within geographical borders.
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