Risk of measles outbreaks growing as 22 million infants miss 1st vaccine: Officials
ABC News
More than 22 million infants throughout the world didn't get their first measles vaccine dose last year.
More than 22 million infants across the globe didn't get their first measles vaccine dose last year, according to a joint statement Wednesday from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two-thirds of those children live in just 10 countries: Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Angola, the Philippines, Brazil and Afghanistan.
Even in countries with high vaccination rates, anti-vaccine sentiment has led to outbreaks in some communities. In 2019, for example, the United States saw the highest number of preventable measles cases since 1992, according to the CDC.
Measles, one of the most contagious viruses in the world, is "almost entirely preventable" through the two vaccine doses, the WHO and CDC said.
