Vaccinations Drop in Europe, and the Result Was Over 21,000 Cases of Measles

Measles is pulling off a disconcerting resurgence across the continent of Europe at the same time the vaccination rate is falling, per recent data from the World Health Organization.

Over 21,000 people caught measles across the continent in 2017, “following a record low of 5,273 cases in 2016,” the WHO wrote in a press release. Some 35 people died as a result, with 15 countries seeing large outbreaks:

The surge in measles cases in 2017 included large outbreaks (100 or more cases) in 15 of the 53 countries in the Region. The highest numbers of affected people were reported in Romania (5562), Italy (5006) and Ukraine (4767). These countries have experienced a range of challenges in recent years, such as declines in overall routine immunization coverage, consistently low coverage among some marginalized groups, interruptions in vaccine supply or underperforming disease surveillance systems.

https://gizmodo.com/vaccinations-drop-in-europe-and-the-result-was-over-21-1823294450