Concern as measles cases doubled in Europe last year

Measles cases in the European region doubled to 127,350 in 2024, reaching the highest level in nearly three decades and leading to 38 deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

The sharp rise is thought to be directly related to reduced vaccination coverage and comes shortly after two recent deaths in the US – involving an unvaccinated child and adult in Texas and New Mexico, respectively – amid an outbreak of measles in the American southwest.

Measles was considered eliminated as a public health concern in the US in 2000, but the rise of anti-vaccine…