Global vaccination affected by the outbreak of corona / Tens of millions of children are at risk of measles
According to IRNA, from the website of the French newspaper Le Figaro, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), citing the results of this report, said: Due to the spread of Covid-19, vaccination and immunization programs have been seriously affected.
Adhanum gebrisus He added: Behind every statistic in this report, a child is at risk of contracting a preventable disease.
According to a joint report by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, about 40 million children missed a dose of the measles vaccine, including 25 million who missed the first dose and 14.7 million who missed the second dose.
The results of this report show that the global vaccination coverage rate for the first dose has reached its lowest level since 2008.
Efram Takle Lemango (Ephrem Tekle Lemango) who is in charge of vaccination programs has also announced that for 3 years, the alarm of decreasing vaccination rates and increasing risk to children’s health has been sounded around the world.
Data from this research, pointing out that very high vaccination coverage is necessary to achieve herd immunity, estimates that there were 9 million cases of measles worldwide last year, causing 128,000 deaths.
In this report, stating that a total of 22 countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, experienced a significant outbreak of this disease last year, he adds: Among the countries with the largest number of unimmunized children are Nigeria, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. , Ethiopia and Indonesia mentioned.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that has no cure after contracting it, and one of its symptoms is the presence of red spots on the skin, accompanied by high fever and possible lung complications.
Le Figaro noted that the number of measles cases has declined dramatically since the 2000s, but the number of estimated cases and deaths in 2021 will exceed 2020, according to new research.
Also, in April of this year, the World Health Organization warned that the reported cases of measles in the first 2 months of 2022 have increased by nearly 80% compared to the same period last year.