More than half the world will be at a “high or very high risk” of measles outbreaks by the end of 2024, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Earlier this week, the global group warned that the viral infection — which is also known as rubeola — has been increasing across the globe due to a high amount of vaccinations missed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we are worried about is this year, 2024, we’ve got these big gaps in our immunization programs, and if we don’t fill them really quickly with the vaccine, measles will just jump into that gap,” Natasha Crowcroft, a Senior Technical Adviser on Measles and Rubella with the WHO, said during a press briefing in Geneva.

“We can see, from data that’s produced with WHO data by the CDC, that more than half of all the countries in the world are going to be at high or very high risk of outbreaks by the end of this year,” she added.

  • Azteh@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    More than half the world? We talking population or countries?

    Seems like an awful lot, but I have no idea about vaccines in other countries. Also do you only need 1 vaccine against measles once in your life or does it require a 2nd one later in life?

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      A second one later in life, IIRC.

      And sometimes the second one doesn’t stick. It didn’t for me, and I’ve been seeing enough other people saying that was also the case for them that I’ve been suggesting my loved ones go get tested for measles immunity even if they’re up-to-date on their vaccines.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Yes the second one only makes you 97% chance of not passing it on. I will need to find a good source for that, but the idea of vaccination requires mass support. Survival of the fittest isn’t about the strongest. It is about those that can figure out a way to reproduce. Viruses reproduce over and over and over in a single body. A vaccine is a poster in the break room that says “known terrorist”. By the time the body gets the Senate and House to declare a war or the President to start without gives reproduce processes for the virus plenty of time. 97% of the time they step up in this case, clearly not human governments. 3% of the time that virus still gets spread. If we don’t isolate it enough it goes peanut butter all over our jelly. Everyone knows what it is like to clean up peanut butter. It’s just nasty