Measles has exploded in Europe. Clinicians say it's only a m

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Measles has exploded in Europe. Clinicians say it's only a matter of time before outbreaks hit Canada

[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/measles- ... 00%20cases ]

Global travel, slumping vaccination rates have led to post-pandemic infections surge

Lauren Pelley, Amina Zafar · CBC News · February 03, 2024

EXCERPT: "After an explosion of measles cases in Europe, medical experts say it's just a "question of time" before outbreaks happen in Canada, thanks to high rates of global travel and low rates of vaccinations.

There were 42,200 measles cases across more than 40 European countries last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week — a more than 40-fold increase from 2022, which saw fewer than 1,000 cases. In December, the organization said there had been more than 20,000 hospitalizations and at least five deaths in the European region.

Globally, the situation is even grimmer, with a spike in infections in 2022 that included nine million known cases and 136,000 reported deaths, mostly among children.

The WHO said the rise in cases in Europe has accelerated in recent months, and the upward trend is expected to continue if urgent measures — like vaccination efforts — aren't taken to prevent further spread of this potentially deadly infection.

"It's not something that is mild," said Dr. Kate O'Brien, a Canadian pediatric infectious diseases specialist and director of the WHO's department of vaccines and immunization. "And it's not something to be taken lightly." . . . .

The risk in Canada

Canada eliminated measles back in 1998 through widespread vaccination programs.

Here, the vaccine is given to children as two doses of a combined shot that also protects against a combination of infections — either measles, mumps and rubella, or measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. . . . ."

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