Health researchers across Europe are growing increasingly concerned at falling immunisation rates and rising numbers of measles cases.
The World Health Organization has warned that a “record high” number of measles cases have already been reported in Europe this year, and that more and more people will be at risk unless immunisation rates can be raised.
“The current high number of measles cases reflects suboptimal immunisation coverage in many areas in the region and an accumulation of susceptible individuals over time,” Siddhartha Sankar Datta, team lead on immunisation and surveillance data at the WHO’s Europe office, told Research Europe.