The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned about the possibility of measles outbreaks after the decrease in childhood vaccination coverage, for which it urged the countries of the Americas to avoid endemic transmission of the virus.
According to the evaluations of the PAHO Technical Advisory Group on vaccines, the risk of outbreaks of diseases that can be prevented with vaccination is at its highest point in the last 30 years.
According to estimates by the agency, carried out in 2021, more than 1.7 million children, from 28 countries and territories of the Americas, did not receive the first dose of the measles vaccine during their first years of life. In the same year, coverage with the first dose of the measles, rubella, and mumps vaccine, known as MMR or MMR, was 85 percent.
Only six countries achieved 95 percent or more coverage to keep these diseases eliminated, while 10 countries reported less than 80 percent coverage. This situation represents a high risk that unvaccinated children may become infected, if they are exposed to the virus.
Between 2000 and 2018, the measles vaccine prevented 23.2 million children worldwide from losing their lives. In this sense, the Americas was declared free of measles in 2016, however, the virus remained active in other parts of the planet, which is why countries such as Venezuela and Brazil reported an increase in imported cases between 2017 and 2019.
After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022, only six nations reported imported measles cases, such as: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, the United States, and Paraguay.
Source: Refers to Prensa Latina
VTV/DS/GT
