The United States is grappling with the resurgence of a disease it eliminated 15 years ago. But it’s not alone.
Data by the World Health Organization indicate that measles immunization rates are declining in several Western countries, like Canada, Belgium, Denmark and Spain, as some parents are opting out due to personal beliefs.
The data also show that more than 100 countries, including Zimbabwe, Iran and North Korea, have higher measles immunization rates than the United States, which was at 91%.
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Dr. Robert Kezaala, senior health adviser of immunization at UNICEF, spent years promoting polio and measles vaccines in Africa.
“Generally, in the developing world, people welcome the vaccines,” he said. “The vaccine hesitancy, concern among the elite … this is not a major issue in immunization against measles, because people have seen devastation from the outbreaks.”
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Regarding the current outbreak in the United States, he said: “It perplexes me, to see a country with no logistical challenges, readily available resources, with refuted studies and the anti-vaccine lobbies, you still see transmission continuing. It’s not easy for me to grasp.”
Eliminated diseases make comeback in the West
The United States is not the only developed country going through vaccine skepticism.
In Canada last year, a group that doesn’t get vaccines carried the infection back after visiting the Netherlands. Local health authorities in British Colombia confirmed 375 cases, which was declared the worst measles outbreak in 30 years in Canada.
The Netherlands also saw a major measles outbreak from May 2013 to March 2014, where more than 2,600 people contracted the disease in communities that do not typically vaccinate.
Europe reported 4,735 measles cases in 2014, in which 85% of the cases were unvaccinated and 10% had not finished their doses. The continent saw a peak in 2010, with 32,480 measles cases.
CNN’s Lu Shen and Beijing intern Sherry Ju contributed to this report.
