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https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-imminent-global-threat-due-pandemic-cdc-who-rcna58576>
"There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions
globally, as the Covid pandemic has led to a steady decline in vaccination
coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health
Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely
preventable through vaccination. However, it requires 95% vaccine coverage to
prevent outbreaks among populations.
A record high of nearly 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose in
2021 due to hurdles created by the Covid pandemic, the WHO and the CDC said in
a joint report.
While measles cases have not yet gone up dramatically compared to previous
years, now is the time to act, the WHO’s measles lead, Dr. Patrick O’Connor,
told Reuters.
“We are at a crossroads,” he said Tuesday. “It is going to be a very
challenging 12-24 months trying to mitigate this.”
A combination of factors, such as lingering social distancing measures and the
cyclical nature of measles, may explain why there has not yet been an explosion
of cases despite the widening immunity gaps, but that could change quickly,
O’Connor said, pointing out the highly contagious nature of the disease."
Via Doug Senko.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
