The Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean region, and Europe experienced the greatest upsurges in measles cases in the year 2017 with an estimated 1,10,000 deaths related to the disease across the globe, according to a new report by World Health Organization (WHO).
The report, ‘Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2017’ a joint publication of WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on 30 November suggested that the spike in measles cases occurred owing to gaps in vaccination coverage.
However, the Western Pacific is the only WHO region where measles incidence fell, the report stated.