The fight against measles in Europe is on a downward slide, a new report released by the World Health Organization shows.
The concern comes as data from 2018 shows that some countries saw an uptick in the number of measles cases, and the region continues to battle a growing number of cases of the disease this year as well.
That means that of the 53 countries in the region, the number that had either attained or maintained elimination status dropped from 37 countries in 2017 to 35 countries in 2018. "Re-establishment of measles transmission is concerning. If high immunization coverage is not achieved and sustained in every community, both children and adults will suffer unnecessarily and some will tragically die," said Dr. Günter Pfaff, the chair of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination.
Major tourist destinations including France, Italy and Germany are three of the 12 countries where the disease remains endemic, or found regularly.Much like in the U.S., the number of cases already reported in 2019 has surpassed the entire previous year. The WHO reports that there have been approximately 90,000 cases in the first half of 2019, which surpasses the 2018 total of 84,462.
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