The number of measles cases in the European region doubled last year to reach the highest level in 25 years, health officials say.
A joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children's fund, Unicef, said children under the age of five accounted for more than 40% of the cases reported in Europe and central Asia.
"Measles is back, and it's a wake-up call," Hans Henri Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said. "Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security."
The MMR vaccine - which immunises people against measles, mumps and rubella - is 97% effective in fighting off the dangerous virus.
Measles is a highly contagious disease which is spread by coughs and sneezes.
The measles virus can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling and death.
The WHO/Unicef joint analysis covering 53 countries said there had been 127,350 measles cases reported in the European region in 2024 - the highest since 1997.
A total of 38 deaths had been reported up to 6 March 2025.
Measles cases, they added, had been declining since 1997, but the trend reversed in 2018-19 and cases rose significantly in 2023-24 "following a backsliding in immunisation coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic".
"Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing the risk of outbreaks," they warned.
The WHO/Unicef statement concluded that measles remained "a significant global threat" and urged governments where cases were occurring to take quick action - and those where the virus had not arrived to be prepared to act.
Source: BBC News, 13 March 2025
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