Measles is so contagious that a single case in close living conditions like refugee camps can activate an outbreak response. That’s expected to happen more often than usual this year.
The World Health Organization (WHO) found that there were 23 million more babies under one year old who missed their routine vaccinations in 2020 than in 2019—including the first of two measles vaccine doses that are recommended for children by the WHO. That number hasn’t been this high since 2009 and is thought to have contributed to the current massive spike in cases worldwide.
There are various reasons for this; in places like Afghanistan, cases are high partly due to conflict and damaged health infrastructure. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), inequitable access to preventive and basic health care services has fueled a cycle of measles outbreaks over the years. Some countries—Liberia, for example—may be feeling the direct effects of COVID-19's interruption of routine childhood vaccination campaigns.
Medical staff with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are already seeing the effects of millions of more sick kids in countries across the globe. Children are especially vulnerable to contracting and dying from measles. “It’s kind of unprecedented that you have this many countries in outbreak this early in the year," said John Johnson, MSF medical vaccination referent for epidemic response.
The path forward is clear: Get vaccines into the arms of children who remain unprotected.
Since 2006, MSF has vaccinated nearly 26 million children against measles, which typically causes severe cold-like symptoms but can have serious and even fatal complications. This year, MSF teams will continue their work to prevent and respond to measles outbreaks with reactive and proactive vaccinations and treatment. There are no specific medications to treat measles, but there are drugs that can keep patients stable and prevent some of the disease’s related medical complications.