The rising measles cases in Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia

March 16, 2025

Written By John Jirn Xuan TEH

“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call” — calling upon by Dr Hans P. Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe. The Measles cases have risen to an unexpected and alarming rate, which requires certain government actions and public awareness. 

 Notably, measles is a highly infectious disease which can be spread by coughs and sneezes, one can identify it by several symptoms including high fever, coughing, sneezing, and sore, red, and watery eyes. Also, the measles virus can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, brain inflammation, and even death. 

  Statistically, there were 127,350 measles cases reported in the European Region for 2024, which has doubled the number reported from 2023 and has reached the highest number seen in the Region since 1997. Within the region, Romania had the highest number of cases, which was 30,692 and followed by Kazakhstan with 28,147 in 2024. As suggested by UNICEF, WHO/Europe, this report has reflected the highest number of measles cases in over 25 years and unfortunately received 38 deaths in total up to 6 March 2025. Also, individuals, especially children who are under five, accounted for more than 40 per cent of reported Measles cases in the Region, which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia and more than half of the reported cases required hospitalization. Moreover, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia named Regina De Dominicis has argued that the measles cases among Europe and Central Asia have been rising over the past two years, which alarmed the poor immunization coverage and requires urgent government action to protect especially children from this dreadful disease.

   In addition, several measles outbreaks have risen in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand and Vietnam.  For instance, Thailand has 7,507 cases in 2024 while there are only 38 identified cases in 2023. According to the health ministry report of Vietnam, there was a 130-fold increase of measles cases in 2024 compared to 2023, which had 6,725 identified cases and 13 deaths. Remarkably, most of the fatalities were children or elderly people with fragile and fundamental health conditions. To that extent, the WHO representative for Vietnam, Dr Angela Pratt, has suggested that 70 to 80 per cent of children who have been identified with the infection were unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated. She also suggested that young children are the most affected group, especially infants under 12 months, are at the highest risk. However, Vietnam has been faced with vaccine stock-outs in 2022 to 2023 and many children are missing out on the chance to be vaccinated and immunised. According to the WHO report in 2023, there are 34.6 million children missed one dose of measles vaccine in 2023, 22.2 million children missed their first dose, and additionally, 12.3 million children have missed their second dose. 

  Furthermore, urgent particular solutions such as intensifying case finding, contact tracing and conducting emergency vaccination campaigns have been called for by UNICEF and WHO. To justify with this, UNICEF and WHO argue that weaknesses in health systems have to be solved and epidemiological data have to be utilized strategically for the sake of addressing the root causes of measles outbreaks. Also, the access of certain and marginalized communities to vaccines has to be valued, and it is believed that every country has to support and step up efforts to enhance the vaccinated populations. Not only that, regarding the report of UNICEF, the measles vaccination rates in many countries are lower than pre-pandemic levels, which increases the risk of rising outbreaks. To that extent, countries who has no current measles outbreaks should be prepared while necessary to identify and address gaps in individuals’ immunity, building and preserving public trust in vaccines and sustaining strong health systems. This reflects that measles cases, which have been declining since 1997, rose increasingly in 2023-2024, alarming the decline of immunisation coverage after the Covid-19 pandemic era. 

   All in all, the rise in measles cases in Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia has alarmed the significance of government actions and public awareness, especially the improvement of the vaccinated population. According to the quote of UNICEF and WHO, "The measles virus never rests—and neither can we."