Measles cases jump by 300%

Measles is a highly contagious disease that has no cure as yet, though there is an effective and safe vaccine.

Despite this, the first four months of 2019 have seen measles cases increase by 300% in Europe. In fact, Europe is the second most affected continent, after Africa which reported a 700% increase in the disease.

In France alone, around 2,300 new cases were reported between 2017 and 2018, a huge number considering this disease had nearly been entirely eradicated. Faced with growing distrust of vaccinations and vaccine coverage stagnating at 85% of the population, the World Health Organisation is sounding the alert.

For it is in fact in developing countries that refusals to vaccinate have been spreading due to the "anti-vax" movement, which definitely exacerbated the problem. Even UNICEF have expressed their concern as a result, imploring people to take action and warning of the dire consequences should this trend of inaction continue for the children of tomorrow.