Measles: Deadly Disease Makes a Comeback

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In 2014, the WHO annual measles update was titled “Measles deaths reach record lows with fragile gains toward global elimination.” It’s safe to say that these headlines are a thing of the past since the organization had much worse news this time around.

In 2019, the WHO estimates that more than 207,000 people died of measles worldwide, the highest number in 23 years. The figure is also 50 percent higher than its 2016 counterpart – showing just how quickly the growth of measles deaths accelerated.

Just 20 years ago, as many as 562,000 people were still dying of the disease annually. This number was intermittently reduced by vaccination programs.

Despite vaccines being a safe and effective way to combat the disease, fewer people and fewer children have been vaccinated in recent years, contributing to an uptick in deaths attributed to measles.

Contracting measles is normally not a major threat to the life of healthy adults and children. But the disease can become life-threatening for very young toddlers, malnourished children and any person of weak health. Fewer vaccinated people also means that measles epidemics become more widespread and can reach weaker children, as well as those unable to be vaccinated for health reasons, more easily. In 2019, most of those dying of measles were under the age of five.

This chart shows annual global deaths as a result of measles.