February 19, 2018

2018: Measles on the rise

located:	Italy, Romania, Greece, Ukraine
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Despite the antiquated sound of the virus, it's not yet confined to a pre-vaccinated past; indeed, the World Health Organisation warns, measles is back.

The number of cases in Europe soared last year, with some even resulting in deaths. A 400% increase in the number of reported cases in Europe, with more than 21,000 people being affected by the viral infection. 35 deaths have been reported as a result of the virus.

It is shocking to see a problem like this once again rising – confined as it seemed to the past. Concerted efforts to diminish cases have been made across all nations, including developing nations, with success evidenced in decades of falling infection and death rates.

And yet, the WHO has said there were large outbreaks last year in 15 of the 53 countries in the European region. Romania was worst affected with 5,562 cases, followed by Italy with 5,006 and Ukraine with 4,767.

It's not entirely clear what has caused the increase in the number of cases: a falling number of vaccinations, an increase in numbers of people with infection coming in from developing countries and underperforming disease surveillance systems have all been posited. It may be any number of reasons – but both the treatment of cases, and its projection in the press needs to be handled very carefully. It is easy to imagine how such information could be treated by reactionary forces who wish to exploit people's fears in Europe. It could easily become another document in the fake-arsenal of the right: 'NOW THE GLOBALISTS WANT YOUR CHILDREN VACCINATED' or 'IMMIGRANTS BRING OVER MORE THAN JUST CHILDREN' etc.

The point is this is a real problem, and it needs to be handled sensibly and sensitively to ensure no more people become affected, and that we do not allow the new wave of the virus to descend into yet another farce in the so-called culture wars.