Measles
In a study published in November 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there would be 10.3 million measles cases worldwide by 2023. , an increase of 20% compared to 2022, according to AFP.
A health worker administers a measles vaccine at a hospital in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica on December 16, 2020.
New research suggests that “inadequate vaccination levels globally are driving the rise in cases”.
Vaccination rates for two doses of measles/rubella vaccine need to reach 95% to prevent outbreaks. However, in 2023, only 83% of children worldwide will receive their first dose of measles vaccine through health services, a level similar to 2022 but down from 86% before the outbreak. out the Covid-19 pandemic. Research shows that only 74% of children will receive a second dose by 2023.
Malaria
On December 17, 2024, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced that the mysterious deadly disease in the country’s Kwango province was a severe form of malaria. There have been 592 cases of the disease reported since October, with a mortality rate of 6.2%, according to the DRC Ministry of Health.
In a report published on December 11, 2024, WHO estimated 263 million malaria cases worldwide in 2023, 11 million more than a year earlier, while deaths remained relatively low. stable, according to AFP.
According to the above report, malaria mortality rates have dropped to pre-Covid-19 levels, but WHO called for more efforts to fight the disease, which has killed nearly 597,000 people in 2023.
WHO points to the widespread deployment of malaria vaccines as a promising step forward, expected to save tens of thousands of children’s lives each year.
Dengue fever
WHO estimates the number of reported dengue cases has doubled each year since 2021, with more than 12.3 million cases, including more than 7,900 deaths, reported in the first eight months of 2024 alone. This number is nearly double the 6.5 million cases reported in all of 2023, according to AFP.
Dengue fever is caused by an arbovirus transmitted by mosquitoes, and its territory has spread as the planet warms. Arbovirus is a virus transmitted by arthropods.
WHO estimates that 4 billion people worldwide are at risk of dengue fever and other arboviruses, including chikungunya and zika, with the number estimated to rise to 5 billion by 2050.
On October 3, 2024, WHO announced a global plan to combat dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases as they spread faster and further in the context of climate change.
WHO’s new plan aims to promote a coordinated global response through disease surveillance, laboratory activities, and the development of innovative treatments and effective vaccines…
WHO said it will need 55 million USD in funding to implement the above plan in 2025.
Monkey pox
According to data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), there have been more than 59,000 cases of monkeypox reported, including 1,164 deaths, from January to November 2024.
Africa CDC on November 28 forecast that the number of monkeypox cases will continue to increase for 4 weeks before starting to show signs of stabilization in early 2025, according to Reuters.
In August 2024, WHO declared a global health emergency after a new clade 1b monkeypox virus strain began to spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries. Clade 1b infections have also been recorded in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Thailand.
As of November 29, 2024, WHO announced that it would still maintain a state of emergency regarding monkeypox, based on the increasing number of cases and the continued geographical spread and a number of other factors.
H5N1 bird flu
US officials on December 18, 2024 announced that an elderly patient in Louisiana was in “critical condition” due to H5N1 bird flu. This is the first serious case of H5N1 in humans in the US, according to AFP.
The new case brings the total number of bird flu cases in the US during the outbreak since March to 61, when the state of California declared a state of emergency to strengthen response. This outbreak was first reported in March in dairy cows. Since then there has been increased concern that raw milk may be an agent of transmission.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a new federal order requiring the sharing of raw milk samples upon request from any dairy farm and milk transporter, and requiring the reporting of any samples containing tested positive for avian flu to federal authorities.
This photo published in March 2024 shows researchers examining the situation after detecting positive cases of H5N1 avian flu in Antarctica
On November 28, 2024, WHO called on countries to strengthen avian flu surveillance after detecting the first case in a child in the US.
WHO Director for Disease Prevention, Response and Pandemics Maria Van Kerkhove warned that the number of H5N1 avian flu infections that have been detected in humans remains small but has been increasing in recent years.
“What we really need globally, in the US and other countries, is much closer surveillance in animals: in wild birds, in poultry, in animals that are known to be susceptible to infection, including pigs and dairy cows, to better understand the circulation process in these animals,” Ms. Van Kerkhove emphasized.
According to the newspaper The ConversationH5N1 is on the verge of becoming a serious problem by 2025. In its current form, H5N1 cannot spread easily among humans. However, a recent study suggests that a single mutation in the flu genome could make H5N1 more transmissible from person to person and could cause a pandemic.
