More than half the world is at risk of fatal measles outbreaks as cases rise 79% in a year, WHO warns

MORE than half the world's countries will soon be at high risk of measles outbreaks unless urgent action is taken, the World Health Organization has warned.

Billions of people could fall victim to the highly-infectious disease by the end of the year, officials say.

More than 306,000 cases were reported globally last year - a 79 per cent increase from 2022.

But measles infections are typically dramatically under-reported, so the real number is likely much higher.

"We are extremely concerned," said Natasha Crowcroft, a WHO technical adviser on measles and rubella.

The UN health agency estimates there could have been as many as 9.2million measles cases and 136,216 deaths in 2022.

Modelling has not yet been done for last year, but there was a 43 per cent jump from 2021 to 2022.

Giving surging numbers, "we would anticipate an increase in deaths in 2023 as well", she said.

"This year is going to be very challenging."

As it stands, more than half of all countries are believed to be at risk of outbreaks by the December 2024.

This means 142million children are estimated to be susceptible to falling ill, and potentially four billion people in total.

Measles, which is often described as one of the world's most contagious diseases, is an airborne illness that mainly affects children.

It usually starts with flu-like symptoms, such as a runny nose, sneezing and coughing, before a nasty rash appears.

While many sufferers recover quickly, it can lead to lifelong disabilities and even death.

When it spreads, measles can affect the lungs and brain and cause pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, seizures, and encephalitis.

Vaccination is the best form of protection, but uptake is worryingly low.

Experts blame rising cases on "backsliding immunisation coverage".

At least 95 per cent of kids need to be fully vaccinated against the disease to prevent outbreaks.

Worldwide, this has slipped to 83 per cent.

Measles is so infectious that if one person has it, up to 90 per cent of people close to them who are not immune will also become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

'Very high risk'

Ms Crowcroft said: "What we are worried about is this year, 2024, we've got these big gaps in our immunisation programmes and if we don't fill them really quickly with the vaccine, measles will just jump into that gap.

"We can see, from data that's produced with WHO data by the CDC that more than half of all the countries in the world are going to be at high or very high risk of outbreaks by the end of this year."

She called for urgent action to protect youngsters, saying there was a "lack of commitment" by governments given competing issues like economic crises and conflict.

WHO figures suggest more than 50million lives have been saved since 2000 thanks to the two-dose vaccine.

The UK was declared measles-free in 2017 after vaccination rates hit the 95 per cent threshold.

But the status was lost again a year later after a sharp decline.

Today, a staggering 3.4million under-16s in Britain are at risk as they have only had one or neither MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

The first dose is given aged one and the second at three years and four months, just before children start school.

However, if you have missed any vaccines, you can easily catch up by speaking to your GP surgery.