There was an “alarming” nearly 45-fold increase in measles cases in Europe last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Health chiefs are warning that cases are still rising and “urgent measures” are needed to prevent further spread.
Some 42,200 people were infected in 2023, compared to 941 during the whole of 2022.
The WHO believes this is a result of fewer children being vaccinated against the disease during the Covid pandemic.
In the UK, health officials said last week that an outbreak of highly contagious measles in the West Midlands could spread rapidly to other towns and cities with low vaccination rates.
More than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are unprotected and at risk of becoming ill from the disease, according to NHS England.
Measles is sooo bad. It essestially completely resets your immune system to that of an infant. You lose ALL immune memory and immunity to everything you’ve caught before or been vaccinated for.
What the fuck, for real‽ That is bonkers. Gonna go read about that.
Sitrep? What’s the scoop?
It affects your immune system but not to the degree the original comment implies. Your humoral immune response doesn’t just disappear, but the effectiveness is reduced.