Measles cases rise 300% globally in first few months of 2019

Measles cases have risen by 300% so far in 2019 as compared with the same period last year, data from the World Health Organization have shown. Provisional figures released this week showed that 112 163 cases were reported by 170 countries from January to April this year.1 This compares with 28 124 cases from 163 countries reported over the same period in 2018. While this represents a global increase of 300%, the increase was much higher in the African region (700%) and much lower in regions such as the eastern Mediterranean (100%) and South East Asia (40%). …