Health experts are sounding the alarm: 30 times as many measles cases were registered in the WHO Europe region between January and October last year than in 2022 overall. But it’s worth taking a closer look – especially at Germany.
Measles is a serious infectious disease, highly contagious and potentially fatal. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) has long been trying to eradicate the pathogen in its European region. A fight that has now been put on hold: As the WHO Regional Office for Europe announced on Tuesday, an increase in measles cases was recorded again last year in the region that extends to Central Asia. Specifically, between January and October 2023, over 30,000 cases of measles were reported by 40 of the 53 Member States – compared to 941 cases in all of 2022.