Europe Faces a Measles Outbreak

The News

Measles, a disease preventable by vaccination, is resurgent in parts of Europe, including Britain. Small outbreaks have also popped up in multiple parts of the United States.

In Europe, reported measles cases rose more than 40-fold last year compared with 2022, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Nearly a third of those cases were in Kazakhstan, where the outbreak is attributed largely to children who missed routine immunizations. Experts fear the virus could spread beyond Kazakhstan.

Most cases in the United States have been linked to travel outside the country. The number of cases reported last year was lower than in most years before the pandemic.

Why It Matters: Measles can be devastating.

Some cases of measles can be mild, but up to half of infected children may need medical attention, said Dr. David Sugerman, who leads the measles team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Children with measles may develop diarrhea and dehydration, pneumonia that leads to long-term respiratory difficulties, and brain inflammation that results in neurological problems, Dr. Sugerman said.

For every 1,000 cases in children, one child may become deaf or intellectually disabled, and one to three may die. Deaths from measles rose worldwide by 43 percent between 2021 and 2022, according to a report in November from the W.H.O. and the C.D.C.

The Lesson: Vaccination effectively prevents outbreaks.

Measles is among the most contagious infections, and the virus can linger in the air for up to two hours. “It is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90 percent of the people close to him or her will also become infected if they are not protected,” Dr. Sugerman said.

The disease is characterized by respiratory symptoms, fever, conjunctivitis and a rash that can be mistaken for roseola, scarlet fever or other viral infections.

In the United States, the measles vaccine is given twice, at 12 to 15 months old, and at 4 to 6 years of age. Even a single dose is 93 percent effective at preventing the disease, according to the C.D.C.

Dr. Sugerman urged families planning to travel, or who are otherwise worried about exposure, to immunize infants at 6 to 11 months old, and to reconsider those plans if the infants are younger than 6 months.

Back Story: The pandemic and rising hesitancy slowed immunizations.

A false claim in the 1990s that said the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism led to a drop in immunization rates. Public health campaigns later recouped much of that deficit, but the rates again fell during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in low-income countries.