Why are measles cases rising in India?

According to a report by the World Health Organisation and the US Centres for Diabetes Control and Prevention (CDC), India was among the 57 countries that witnessed large disruptive outbreaks of measles in 2023. With 65,150 cases India was second to the Democratic of Congo whereas the infection has gone up by 20% with 10.3 million cases recorded in 2023.

The report also suggested that the estimated number of deaths also increased globally by 8% from the previous year, with 107,500 deaths globally.

What is measles?

Measles is a contagious viral infection that causes fever, cough, runny nose, skin blotches and sore throat. In severe cases, it can also lead to swelling of the brain or death. However, the infection is preventable with vaccination.

However, the WHO report also showed that immunisation against this infection remains stagnant and during the COVID-19 pandemic the estimated global coverage with the first dose of measles declined to 81% the lowest since 2008. MCV1 coverage improved to 83% in 2022 but remained unchanged in 2023. The report also pointed out that 22.2 million children globally missed their first dose of vaccine, which means more than 2% as compared to the previous year. Last year’s report said that an estimated 1.1 million children in India missed their first dose of vaccine in 2022. However, the government said that the MCV-1 went up to 93% in 2023.

Source: The Indian Express