New Delhi: Researchers have predicted the possibility of a major measles outbreak in 2021 due to missed vaccination amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a study titled Actions needed now to prevent further increases in measles and measles deaths in the coming years, published in the journal Lancet on 12 November, experts suggest ‘three pillars’ of action needed to address the concerning situation. These are: 1) helping countries vaccinate their children through catch-up and campaigns, 2) countries need to prepare for expected outbreaks, and 3) maintain measles and rubella elimination targets provided by WHO’s new Measles Rubella Strategic Framework 2021-2030 in alignment with the Immunization Agenda 2030.
Lead author Professor Kim Mulholland, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Chair of the WHO’s SAGE Working Group on measles and rubella vaccines, said many children have missed out on measles vaccination this year, making future measles outbreaks inevitable.
Professor Mulholland said while 2020 had been a quiet year for measles, in part due to travel reductions and national Covid-19 control measures, the economic impacts would lead to many cases of childhood malnutrition.
The study mentioned that the WHO estimates that by the end of October 2020, delayed vaccination campaigns in 26 countries have led to 94 million children missing scheduled measles vaccine doses.
“The inadequate vaccination that led to the 2019 measles outbreaks has still not been adequately addressed, and the situation is now exacerbated by service disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic so that high-risk, unimmunised children are clustered together in unreached communities,” Professor Mulholland added.
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Concern for India
The Lancet report said malnourished children are at a greater risk. “Children who die from measles are often malnourished, but acute measles pushes many surviving children into malnutrition.”
This is a matter of concern for India since it ranks 102 of 177 countries on the Global Hunger Index 2020. With the disruption of local food supply chains, the pandemic has worsened the problem of availability of food in the country.
According to a report published in The Hindu in December 2019, at 2.3 million, India has the second highest number of children who are not vaccinated for measles.
According to another WHO report, with 39,299 cases, India stood fourth among 194 countries in the number of measles cases registered between July 2018 and June 2019.
Also read: How Covid worsened hunger in India, the world’s largest food basket