Measles: Over 100,000 cases in Europe in 2024 More than 100,000 people have submitted measles in 2024, across Europe, with almost a seventh of them cases to be registered in the European Union (EU).
This year’s number of measles cases is more than 70% higher than in 2023, according to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).
The ECDC in its new report, in the European region of the World Health Organization (WHO), 104,849 cases of measles were recorded until December 11, 2024. In the whole of 2023, however, 61,070 cases had been reported in 41 of the total of 53 countries that make up WHO Europe.
Of the 2024 cases, more than 16,000 have been reported in EU member states. Among them are included 35 cases in Greece. In the three previous years (2021 to 2023), our country had no measles cases, according to the EODY.
In October this year alone, 13 of the EU member states reported that 181 people were diagnosed with measles. By 9 December, however, another 199 cases had been recorded in the EU.
The EU country with the most cases is by far Romania. It’s approaching nearly 12,000 this year. Italy follows with almost 1,000.
Of the non-EU countries, Kazakhstan has the most cases (almost 28,000), followed by Russia (over 21,000). In the next positions are Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Britain with over 16,600, 13,000 and 2,700 respectively.
Very dangerous
Measles is the most contagious and very serious disease, which can even lead to death. Its transmissibility reaches 100% in vulnerable (e.g. unvaccinated) people, the ECDC emphasizes.
Unfortunately, in recent years it has made a dynamic reappearance, due to the decrease in vaccination coverage of the population. Children are the most affected.
In the 12 months from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024, of the 18,044 cases recorded, 44.2% (almost 8,000) were children under the age of 5. Only 28.6% of cases (almost 5,200) were recorded in people aged 15 and over.
The highest proportion of cases was seen in babies (aged less than 1 year). It reached 579.3 per million population. This is followed by ages 1-4 with 337.9 cases per million.
Of the measles patients, more than 87% were completely unvaccinated. Another 8% were partially vaccinated.
During the same period, 13 measles deaths were also recorded in the EU. 12 were reported in Romania and one in Ireland.