Measles is “growing global threat,” CDC tells doctors in alert message - Ars Technica

Enlarge / A baby with measles.

CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is putting clinicians on alert about the growing risk of measles cases and outbreaks amid a global surge in transmission.

In an outreach message sent Thursday, the CDC told clinicians to look out for patients who have a rash accompanied by a fever and other symptoms of measles, as well as patients who have recently traveled to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks.

Between December 1, 2023, and January 23, 2024, there have been 23 confirmed measles cases in the US, including seven direct importations by international travelers and two outbreaks with more than five cases each, the CDC noted. Most of the cases were in unvaccinated children and teens.

Measles outbreaks in the US are typically sparked by unvaccinated or undervaccinated US residents who pick up the infection abroad and then, when they return, transmit the disease to pockets of their communities that are also unvaccinated or undervaccinated.

Globally and in the US, vaccination rates against measles—via the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR)—have fallen in recent years due to pandemic-related health care disruption and vaccine hesitancy fueled by misinformation.

"The increased number of measles importations seen in recent weeks is reflective of a rise in global measles cases and a growing global threat from the disease," the CDC's outreach message, titled "Stay Alert for Measles Cases," read.

According to data from the World Health Organization, the European region saw an over 40-fold rise in measles cases in 2023 as compared with 2022. The region tallied over 42,200 measles cases last year, compared with just 941 in 2022.

This week, the WHO reported a rapid escalation of measles cases in Kazakhstan (which the WHO considers part of the European region). Kazakhstan has recorded the highest incidence of measles cases in the region, with 13,677 cases in 2023. That corresponds to over 639 cases per million in the population. In the news release Tuesday, Kazakhstan's health minister reported that there are "currently 2,167 children in hospital with measles, 27 of them in a serious condition."

The outbreak is largely spurred by unvaccinated children who missed their routine immunizations during the pandemic. Sixty-five percent of the reported measles cases are in children under age 5, the WHO noted. The country is now trying to catch children up on their vaccines to curb the outbreak.

"Measles is highly infectious, but fortunately, can be effectively prevented through vaccination," WHO's Regional Director for Europe, Hans Henri P. Kluge, said in the news release. "I commend Kazakhstan for the urgent measures being taken to stop the spread of this dangerous disease."

Meanwhile, measles is flaring up in many other places. Last week, the UK Health Security Agency warned of the potential for an ongoing measles outbreak to spread. As of January 18, there were 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands region since October 2023. Authorities warned that any areas with low MMR vaccination rates are at risk of an outbreak.

The vast majority of Americans have received their MMR vaccines on schedule. In this case, the two standard, recommended doses are considered 97 percent effective against measles, and the protection is considered for life. But anyone who is unvaccinated or undervaccinated is at high risk of infection in the event of an exposure. The virus can linger in air space for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the area, the CDC notes, and is highly infectious—up to 90 percent of unvaccinated people exposed will fall ill. Once infected, people are infectious from four days before the telltale measles rash develops to four days afterward.

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Cameroon's babies get world-first RTS,S malaria vaccine - BBC.com

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1. Cameroon's babies get world-first RTS,S malaria vaccine  BBC.com
2. Malaria vaccine brings surprise benefit to children : Goats and Soda  NPR
3. News at a glance: Long-awaited malaria shots, risks of face recognition technology, and Japan's first moon landing  Science
4. New GSK malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, is rolled out in Africa  STAT
5. First malaria vaccine program benefits children  Deseret News

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Measles in the U.K.: Health authorities warn outbreak could grow - NBC News

LONDON — A serious outbreak of measles in England could grow to tens of thousands of cases, health experts there have warned, as Europe grapples with a spike in the highly contagious disease.

The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday that since October, there have been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands region, an urban part of England centered on the city of Birmingham, where around 80% of the cases were recorded. That’s higher than last year’s total of 209 measles cases and the 2022 tally of 53.

Last year, the government warned that a measles outbreak in London could lead to between 40,000 and 160,000 cases there if the vaccination rate did not improve. The rate in England has been falling for years due to misinformation and declining community health budgets. 

Around 89% of children in England have received their first measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine dose by age 2, according to the state-run National Health Service — down from 93% a decade ago. The World Health Organization considers 95% the necessary threshold to maintain herd immunity. 

A British information campaign is now urging people to ensure their children get the vaccination.

British lawmaker Maria Caulfield, who was previously the minister of state for health, laid bare the scale of the challenge when she told the House of Commons on Monday that more than 3.4 million children under 16 are not vaccinated against measles. 

In Europe overall, Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s director for the region, warned Wednesday that there had been 42,200 measles cases across 41 countries in 2023 — a nearly 45-fold increase from the 941 recorded the previous year. He said last month that nearly 21,000 people had been hospitalized.

A crisis is also building in central Asia, where more than 13,600 cases were recorded in 2023, the majority among unvaccinated children under 14, the WHO said.

Three U.S. states have also recorded measles cases in the last month. Philadelphia has confirmed at least eight locally acquired cases, in addition to one “imported” case that prompted a health alert in December. Camden County, New Jersey, confirmed a case on Jan. 13, then Georgia health officials confirmed the state’s first case in four years soon after: an unvaccinated resident in Atlanta. 

Measles is most common in children. The disease is characterized by a red, blotchy rash that usually follows a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Around 1 in 5 unvaccinated people with measles are hospitalized, and up to 3 out of 1,000 children with measles die from complications such as pneumonia or swelling of the brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The MMR vaccine is offered to children in Britain starting at 12 months, with a second dose shortly after they turn 3. Children in the U.S. get their second dose between 4 and 6 years old. Two shots are 97% effective, according to the CDC. 

“Even if you reach them, it’s really difficult to keep such high levels of vaccination sustained over a long period,” said Helen Bedford, a professor at University College London’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. “You get there, the disease goes away, people think, ‘Oh, well, the disease has gone away; I don’t need to vaccinate.’” 

Several other factors have fueled England’s vaccination challenges, experts said. One is that uptake remains especially low among low-income and more ethnically diverse groups, according to a 2021 NHS study in southeast England.

“It’s poor people, people who are highly mobile and don’t stay in one place,” said Azeem Majeed, professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London. “In regards to messaging, the NHS needs to be more proactive on this.”

On Thursday, in an effort to reach non-English speakers, the local council in the borough of Brent released a video about measles in Romanian.

A second factor is a now-discredited study published in 1998 that falsely claimed the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. The paper was partially retracted in 2004, but by then vaccine uptake had dipped to 81%. The study was fully retracted in 2010 and its author, Andrew Wakefield, was removed from the U.K. medical register. 

Thousands of children born in the late ’90s and the early 2000s are now unvaccinated adults.

“It’s this combination of low uptake about 20 years ago, so you’ve got lots of young adults that are susceptible, and then over the years an accumulation of susceptible people, particularly in some parts of London,” Bedford said.

However, Bedford doesn’t consider vaccine hesitancy and the spread of conspiracy theories to be the main problem. British parents’ confidence in vaccines is as high as 90%, according to a 2022 study.

“The anti-vaccine movement is very, very small, but it has a very loud voice,” she said. “So I think it’s important not to get too hooked on that because there are lots of things we can do. And if we just focus on anti-vaccine, it’s much more difficult to know what to do.”

Instead, Bedford pointed a finger at two other factors: a reduction in community nurses and reforms made to the NHS — namely the 2013 decision to spread the responsibility for vaccines across several agencies rather than one.

What’s more, she said, there is a lingering opinion among some Britons that measles is a trivial childhood illness, which is a dangerous view.

“In a best-case scenario, measles is a nasty disease that makes children feel very ill. But of course there is a recognized significant complication rate, with ear infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and, yes, it can kill you,” Bedford said. 

This week, doctors’ clinics in the West Midlands area urged patients not to turn up unannounced if they suspect they have measles: “Call ahead, that way if you do have measles — you won’t pass it on to others — it can be a fatal disease if someone has a weak immune system,” a public information flyer said.

Patrick Smith reported from London and Aria Bendix from New York.

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COVID variant JN.1 no more severe than previous strains, CDC data shows - Fox News

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week that data indicates the current dominant strain of COVID-19 is no more severe than previous forms.

The JN.1 variant, currently the most common strain in the country, has no more severity than others, according to a report published Monday by the CDC.

"CDC continues to learn more about JN.1, but currently there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease," the report stated.

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JN.1 is currently the most dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 after yet another mutation. (iStock)

It continued, "Current COVID-19 vaccines are expected to increase protection against JN.1, as they do against other variants, by helping prevent severe illness."

JN.1, which is currently the country’s fastest growing variant, is expected to continue to increase in prevalence among COVID cases, the CDC stated. It is very similar to the BA.2.86 variant, which is an omicron subvariant that emerged in August.

It is now responsible for an estimated 85.7% of cases in the U.S. as of Jan. 22.

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A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (REUTERS/Tami Chappell/File Photo)

Despite its quick growth, the agency has said "there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants," as it does not appear to cause increased severity of illness.

The report was affirmed by CDC official Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner during a webinar.

"There are early signals that that may not be the case," Azziz-Baumgartner said when asked if the variant was more severe than past strains, though emphasizing that individuals could experience the virus differently.

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A doctor loads a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe at a clinic in Worcester, Massachuetts. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

"Now, it's important to remember that how a virus affects an individual is a unique 'n' of one," Azziz-Baumgartner said. "It could be very severe. People could die from a virus that, to the general population, may be milder."

The vaccines, tests and treatments that are currently available are expected to be effective against JN.1.

Fox News Digital's Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.

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COVID variant JN.1 is not more severe, early CDC data suggests - CBS News

Early data from hospitals suggests the latest COVID variant, known as JN.1, is not leading to more severe disease, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Monday, as the agency has tracked the strain's steep rise to an estimated 85.7% of COVID-19 cases nationwide.

The agency is still waiting for more weeks of data to lay out its more detailed assessment of JN.1's impact this season, the CDC official, Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, said at a webinar with testing laboratories hosted by the agency this week. 

Asked if JN.1's symptoms seemed to be more severe compared to previous waves, he said "there are early signals that that may not be the case," based on electronic medical record cohorts and other data.

"Now, it's important to remember that how a virus affects an individual is a unique 'n' of one," he added. "It could be very severe. People could die from a virus that, to the general population, may be milder." 

Azziz-Baumgartner told the webinar the CDC hopes to release more details about JN.1's severity "during the next couple weeks" as more data on the virus accumulates. 

So far, the CDC has been careful to say that there was "no evidence" JN.1 was causing more severe disease, even as it contributed to the spread of the virus this winter.

It is not clear when the CDC's new assessment of JN.1 is scheduled to be published. A CDC spokesperson was not able to immediately respond to a request for comment.

Scientists at the CDC and other federal health agencies have also so far not moved to deem JN.1 a standalone "variant of interest," in a break from the WHO's decision to step up its classification of the lineage last month. 

The WHO said Friday that there were "currently no reported laboratory or epidemiological reports" linking JN.1 or its other variants of interest to increased disease severity.

CDC's early findings about JN.1 come as the agency has begun to see a slowing of respiratory virus trends after a peak over the winter holidays. 

The agency's disease forecasters also concluded earlier this month that JN.1's spread did not warrant them stepping up their assessment of COVID-19's threat this winter, noting hospitalization rates appeared to be lower than they were last season.

COVID-19 hospitalizations this season continued to outpace influenza nationwide, the agency's data suggests, and weekly rates of both stopped short of topping previous record highs. 

Azziz-Baumgartner cautioned data lags could be muddying the picture, as hospitals catch up on delayed reporting of their weekly admissions. Officials have also been closely watching for possible signs of a renewed increase in the spread of influenza, as has been seen in some previous seasons before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some jurisdictions have also been reporting a strain on hospitals, especially in New England, he said. CDC figures tally the region's hospital capacity rate as the worst in the country. 

Massachusetts General Hospital warned last week it was taking steps to address an "unprecedented overcrowding" crisis, along with other hospitals in the state.

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Alexander Tin

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

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'Alarming rise' in measles cases in Europe as 'national incident' declared in UK - Euronews

With a "national incident" over measles in the UK, what’s the situation in Europe?

Europe is experiencing an "alarming rise" in measles cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday, with a more than 30-fold rise across the region in 2023.

More than 30,000 measles cases were reported by 40 of the WHO European region’s 53 member states between January and October last year, compared to 941 cases in 2022.

The increase in the number of cases is compounded by the hospitalisation of 21,000 people and five measles-related deaths.

The WHO says this upward trend is expected to continue if urgent measures are not taken to prevent further spread.

The UK's health agency has already declared a “national incident” over an outbreak in central England.

The virus practically disappeared in Europe during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but "the overall number of measles cases in the EU/EEA has been steadily increasing since June 2023," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its latest weekly threats report.

Alongside the UK, Romania is on red alert. Last December, the country’s health ministry declared a national measles epidemic following a worrying rise in cases and a high number of hospitalisations among infected children.

Since the announcement, four unvaccinated people - three babies and one adult - died due to measles, according to local media and the National Institute of Public Health. The latter confirmed 2,805 cases of the virus in Romania last year.

Austria has been fighting measles since the beginning of 2023, with almost 200 cases recorded through the epidemiological reporting system.

In France, a measles outbreak started in a school in the southeastern commune of Guilherand-Granges in September. By mid-November, 64 cases were confirmed, two of which had to be hospitalised, the regional health agency reported.

Germany recorded 57 cases last year, which was higher than in 2022 but lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Measles vaccination coverage in Europe

The ECDC says that more measles cases are expected in the majority of EU/EEA countries since vaccination coverage is "suboptimal". WHO Europe, meanwhile, warned that the virus resurgence was largely attributed to backsliding in vaccination coverage.

The average vaccination coverage in the EU/EEA has been falling since 2020. The latest data from the ECDC show that coverage for the second dose in 2022 was around 89.7 per cent.

Hungary (99 per cent), Slovakia and Portugal (96 per cent) are the EU countries with the highest levels of measles vaccination, while Estonia (68 per cent) and Romania (71 per cent) have the lowest levels.

The UK's health authorities warned last Friday that the surge in the West Midlands could spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to boost vaccination uptake.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), as of last Thursday, there had been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands since October 2023, the majority being in children aged under 10.

"With vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities," said Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA.

She stressed the importance of getting two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for lifelong protection, adding that "it’s never too late to catch up".

"Children who get measles can be very poorly and some will suffer life-changing complications. The best way for parents to protect their children from measles is the MMR vaccine," Harries said.

Siddhartha Datta, WHO Europe's regional adviser on immunisation, agrees. 

"The measles vaccines we have are safe and effective. They have been used for years now, and have been able to prevent so many deaths and diseases in the European region," he explained at a press conference last week.

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, according to the WHO, and "can cause severe disease, complications, and even death".

The virus is most common in children. Symptoms may include high fever, cough, runny nose and rash.

The two doses of the MMR vaccine are 96 per cent effective against measles, according to the Vaccine Knowledge Project, managed by the Oxford Vaccine Group.

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Cameroon Launches First Malaria Vaccine Program for Children - VOA Learning English

Cameroon has begun the world’s first major malaria vaccine program for children.

The campaign launched Monday in the Central African nation. Health officials called the effort a major step in the fight against the disease across Africa. The continent accounts for about 95 percent of the world’s malaria deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the disease, which is spread through mosquitos, kills more than 600,000 people a year. Most of the deaths involve young children.

The vaccine, called RTS.S, was developed by British drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). It is meant to work with other preventive measures, such as the use of bed nets, to fight the disease.

Cameroon is the first country to offer vaccine injections through a routine program after successful tests, or trials, were carried out in Ghana and Kenya. Cameroon hopes to vaccinate about 250,000 children this year and next.

FILE - Health officials prepare to administer a vaccine in the Malawi village of Tomali with the world's first vaccine against malaria in a pilot program in Tomali, Dec. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

The international vaccine alliance called Gavi has said 19 other countries aim to launch their own campaigns this year. About 6.6 million children in those countries are to receive malaria vaccinations in 2024 and 2025.

"For a long time, we have been waiting for a day like this," said Mohammed Abdulaziz. He is with the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abdulaziz spoke during a joint news briefing with the WHO, Gavi and other organizations.

Cameroon is using one of two recently approved malaria vaccines, called Mosquirix. When the WHO approved the vaccine two years ago, officials admitted it was not perfect. But they noted its use could sharply reduce severe infections and hospitalizations.

The GSK-produced shot is only about 30 percent effective. It requires four shots, or doses. Tests have shown the vaccine’s protection begins to weaken after several months. GSK has said it can only produce about 15 million doses of Mosquirix a year.

Some experts believe a second malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University and approved by the WHO in October may be a better solution. That vaccine, called R21, is less costly and only requires three doses.

FILE - A mother holds her baby receiving a new malaria vaccine as part of a trial at the Walter Reed Project Research Center in Kombewa in Western Kenya on Oct. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

Launching the second vaccine is expected to result in enough vaccine supply “to meet the high demand and reach millions more children," said Kate O'Brien. She is the WHO's director of vaccinations.

"Having two vaccines for malaria will help to close the huge gap between demand and supply and could save tens of thousands of young lives, especially in Africa," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

India’s Serum Institute – which helped develop the R21 vaccine –has said it could produce up to 200 million doses of it a year. Gavi has said that vaccine could be launched in May or June.

Some experts have raised questions about the long-term effectiveness of the vaccines. They have questioned whether attention and financing should be drawn away from the wider fight against the disease using established prevention methods.

But health experts at the news conference said the new vaccine launch included community efforts aimed at supporting the campaign. Officials advised individuals on vaccine safety and have urged them to continue to use existing protective methods alongside the vaccines.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

bed net – n. a large piece of material made with crossed threads and holes that is placed over a bed and is designed to keep out insects

routine – adj. done regularly

gap – n. an empty space or hole in the middle of or between two things

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