Four countries lost their measles-free status in Europe in 2018

Europe is slipping away from eradicating measles as four countries have lost their measles-free status, the World Health Organization has warned.

The UK lost its elimination status just 10 days ago and Albania, Greece and Czechia have all also lapsed in the last year. 

And 89,994 cases of the killer infection were diagnosed in the region in the first six months of this year – more than in the entire of 2018. 

The WHO has warned children will die if it’s not brought under control across the continent.  

Experts say more work needs to be done to crack down on the illness and that it was ‘disheartening’ to see countries’ progress going backwards.

Albania, Czech Republic, Greece and the UK (highlighted in orange) have become the first countries to have their measles-free status revoked by the World Health Organization

‘Re-establishment of measles transmission is concerning,’ said Dr Günter Pfaff, chair of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC).

‘If high immunization coverage is not achieved and sustained in every community, both children and adults will suffer unnecessarily and some will tragically die.’

The warning was given after the RVC’s annual analysis of elimination statuses of countries in the WHO European region, which includes some of the Middle East.

To qualify as having ‘eliminated’ measles, a nation must have had no cases of an illness for at least three years despite having a high-quality surveillance system.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK had lost its status on August 19 after there were 231 lab-confirmed cases in the first quarter of this year.

Austria and Switzerland achieved elimination last year, bringing the total to 35 countries, while 12 still have regular measles infections.

A further two have managed to interrupt the transmission of the infection, putting them in line for elimination if they can keep it up.

But cases of the viral infection have surged this year in the region, with more cases recorded in the first six months of 2019 than the 84,462 in the whole of 2018.

Professor Martin Marshal, vice-chair of the UK’s Royal College of GPs, said: ‘It is disheartening to see these findings by the RVC at a time when we, and other countries across Europe, were on the way towards completely eradicating measles – a potentially deadly but entirely preventable disease.’

Measles, which can be prevented with a vaccine, is caused by a virus which spreads rapidly in the same way as colds do.

Although most people recover from the illness within a week or two, some can develop life-threatening complications such as pneumonia or brain swelling.

Professor Marshall added it was important that people continued to tear apart myths about vaccinations and encourage people to get their children immunised.

He said: ‘It is encouraging that WHO has increased its focus on measles elimination and upgraded action to address the challenges which have allowed this deadly virus to persist in countries including the UK.

‘This, alongside a commitment by our government to tackle a wave of dangerous anti-vax messages being shared online – particularly via social media – will hopefully go a long way in helping the country get back on track and regain our measles-free status.

‘Everybody has a part to play if we are to successfully combat anti-vaxxer propaganda, not least the technology companies who must take responsibility and tackle confusion around the vaccination information being shared on their platforms.’

Measles vaccination rates – the MMR jab – are at their lowest rate since 2011, with 87.2 per cent of children having both doses before their fifth birthday.