Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

142,000 died from measles last year, WHO estimates

142,000 died from measles last year, WHO estimates

Number of cases reported so far this year is three times higher than at same stage in 2018
The worldwide surge in deadly measles outbreaks is showing no sign of abating, with nearly 10 million cases and 142,000 deaths last year, according to new estimates, and three times more cases reported so far this year than at the same stage in 2018.

Most of those dying are small children, and thousands more suffer harm including pneumonia and brain damage. New scientific evidence shows survivors are at greater risk soon afterwards because their immune system is impaired.

Anti-vax misinformation spread through social media is contributing to a rise in cases in affluent countries such as the UK and US, while problems in health services play a big part elsewhere. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where not enough children have been immunised because of conflict and low-quality health services, more than 4,500 people have died from measles this year – more than the death toll from Ebola.

Samoa is in the grip of an island-wide outbreak that has killed 60 people after parents lost confidence in vaccination following the deaths of two children from a wrongly mixed vaccine last year. Anti-vax activists appear to have stoked the doubt; Robert F Kennedy Jr, a prominent anti-vaxxer, visited the island in June.

The estimates are from annual modelling carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control. They are vastly higher than the numbers of cases that countries report. Vaccination rates have stagnated for almost a decade. The WHO says 95% coverage is necessary to prevent outbreaks, but globally 86% of children get the first dose and fewer than 70% the second dose.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said: “The fact that any child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease like measles is frankly an outrage and a collective failure to protect the world’s most vulnerable children. To save lives, we must ensure everyone can benefit from vaccines, which means investing in immunisation and quality healthcare as a right for all.”

Prof Heidi Larson, the director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Despite an available, safe and effective measles vaccine, not enough people are being vaccinated to prevent this devastating loss of life. Some countries are scrambling to vaccinate in the face of serious outbreaks, far too late for many. Stressed systems due to multiple disease outbreaks, conflict, rumours and distrust contribute to the measles crisis.”

She cited Ebola in Liberia and DRC and plague in Madagascar, while she said Ukraine “has rumours and mistrust swirling alongside conflict and historic vaccine supply gaps”.

She added: “Measles, the most contagious of all vaccine-preventable diseases, is the tip of the iceberg of other vaccine-preventable disease threats and should be a wake-up call to strengthen protection against future outbreaks.”

The WHO’s immunisation director, Dr Kate O’Brien, expressed concern about the direction in which the numbers were heading. “We are clearly backsliding in terms of progress on measles. It’s not just that we are not continuing to have progress in its control and direction towards elimination, we are now going backwards. It is very sobering. The size of these outbreaks is very large.”

She said the outbreaks were having a severe impact on the provision of other healthcare in countries where provision was already stretched, she said.

The solutions involved better vaccination services and boosting public confidence, O’Brien said. “Hesitancy is high on our radar screen and on our risk register now and into the future. We’re very concerned about science deniers, we’re very concerned about misinformation and we’re very concerned about the ability of families, community leaders and even the political world to discern the difference between accurate scientific information, proven information and this misinformation.

“Anti-vaccine messages are not new. But what is new is the tools with which and the opportunity for these messages even from a small fringe group of people to disseminate very widely and to portray themselves as if they are accurate pieces of information, which they are not.”

Social media companies are beginning to help by taking down blatant misinformation and directing people to reliable sources such as Public Health England, the WHO or the CDC in the US. O’Brien said healthcare workers needed to be well prepared to answer vaccine questions, and young people needed to be educated about science, illness, vaccines and credible sources.

“They will be the parents of the future and we really think that there’s a lot that could be done now to essentially immunise young people against misinformation,” she said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×