India’s Measles Cases Doubled In 2022 – Free PDF Download

• In India, measles cases more than doubled in the first two months of 2022 compared to the previous year. A similar pattern was observed globally, as measles cases increased by 79% in the same period.
• The WHO labelled this development as a “worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases”.

• Over 17,000 cases of measles have been reported largely from Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia in January and February of 2022.
• The number almost doubled from that recorded in the first two months of 2021 (9,665), the United Nations health agency said in a statement April 26, 2022.
• The increase in measles cases indicates the extent of impact of pandemic-related disruptions in immunisation drives and monitoring. WHO and UNICEF warned of ripe conditions for “serious outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses.”
• The relaxation of movement restrictions is another factor that heightens the risk of larger outbreaks.
• Google mobility data show that in India, visits to parks have increased more than 80% in May 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic levels.

• Monitoring also came down significantly as resources were redirected to deal with the pandemic, and it is likely these figures are an underestimate, the bodies noted in the statement.
• The global health body’s statement also warns of the dangerous impact of a measles infection on the immune system, which has the potential to make children more susceptible to other diseases as well.
• Experts began warning of concerns surrounding a looming threat of immune amnesia, an impact of a measles infection, early on in the pandemic.
• It was recently demonstrated that MeV (measles) infects and destroys memory and memory-like cells, thus erasing the recollection of past encounters with various microbes and vaccines.

Drop in Vaccine Dosage

• The confluence of a rise in measles cases and drop in vaccination rates in the backdrop of a raging COVID-19 pandemic may be a cause for concern.
• When measles vaccination policies are relaxed, the expected herd immunity for any secondary infectious disease X can be lost owing to the proliferation of individuals affected by immune amnesia.
• The global vaccination rate for measles fell to 84 per cent in 2020 from 86 per cent in 2019 — a figure that has remained unchanged for a while, and significantly lower than the 95 per cent global target.
• Moreover, some 20 million infants missed their first dose in 2020, prior to which the world was witnessing the biggest measles outbreak in over two decades.

Concern

• More than 200 million people, most of whom are children, have been impacted by the postponement of 57 vaccine-preventable disease campaigns in 43 countries.
• Now is the moment to get essential immunisation back on track and launch catch-up campaigns so that everybody can have access to these life-saving vaccines.

What is measles?

• Measles is a highly contagious disease. In 2018, measles killed more than 140,000 people, according to the WHO.
• Most of these were children younger than five years old. In developing countries, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia, measles is still common.
• Measles is caused by a virus that infects the respiratory tract. This then spreads through the body. Symptoms include a high fever and rash.
• Measles can lead to serious complications including blindness, encephalitis – an infection that causes brain swelling – and severe respiratory infections like pneumonia.
• It’s these complications that lead to most deaths. Young children who are unvaccinated and poorly nourished are most at risk from measles.

How has measles vaccination helped?

• A measles vaccine was introduced in 1963 and led to widespread vaccination. Before this, measles killed about 6 million people a year, the WHO says, and there were measles epidemics roughly every two to three years.
• Death rates were higher in poorer countries, but measles also infected around 500,000 Americans a year in the mid-1950s, killing around 10% of them. By 2000, the United Sates was declared measles-free.
• Between 2000 and 2018, more than 23 million deaths globally have been prevented by measles vaccination, according to the WHO. This makes the measles vaccine “one of the best buys in public health,” it adds.

Question:
For prevention of which disease, BCG vaccine is given?

1. Measles
2. Tetanus
3. Cholera
4. TB

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