Measles, polio, tuberculosis: what's causing spikes in infectious diseases?

"The number of children who are missing routine vaccinations is increasing, especially in areas where conflict has disrupted basic health services. Funding cuts are taking a toll on public-health measures, including immunizations. Vaccine hesitancy - named one of the top ten threats to public health by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 - is also driving deadly gaps in coverage. And with the withdrawal of US support from the WHO and Gavi, a Geneva-based global health charity that vaccinates children in lower-income countries, researchers worry that infectious-disease prevention will get worse before it gets better."

"Measles is one of the world's most contagious viruses. "It's an infection that really identifies weaknesses in immunization programmes," says William Moss, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Two doses of the measles vaccine provide lifelong protection to 99% of people, says David Durrheim, a public-health physician and vaccinologist at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. But because measles is so infectious, about 95% coverage with two doses of the vaccine is needed in all communities to achieve herd-immunity - the percentage of people who need to be immune to stop a disease from spreading."

Vaccination has averted approximately 154 million deaths since 1974 and produced a 40% decline in global infant mortality over a 50-year period. Routine immunization coverage is deteriorating, with increasing numbers of children missing vaccinations, especially where conflict disrupts health services. Funding cuts and withdrawal of major support threaten public-health measures and immunization programs. Vaccine hesitancy was identified by WHO as a top-ten public-health threat in 2019 and is creating deadly gaps in coverage. Measles remains extremely contagious: two doses provide 99% protection but require roughly 95% two-dose coverage in all communities to achieve herd immunity.

Read at Nature