Reasons for the Resurgence of Measles in Asian Countries

Abstract

Measles is a highly contagious disease with life-threatening complications. It is caused by the measles virus and affects mostly children. Despite being a vaccine-preventable disease, the resurgence of measles tends to occur in several countries across the globe. This review attempts to study the prevalence of measles and its resurgence in Asian countries. A total of 28 articles from ‘PubMed’, “Science Direct”, “Cochrane Library” were selected. Globally, in the year 2019, a total of 873,250 cases of measles were reported, and of these, 138,656 cases in Asia. Among the Asian countries, the Philippines reported the highest number (48,525) of measles cases. The prevalence of measles cases in earlier eliminated countries indicates the resurgence. The data analysis of seven articles indicated measles cases were higher in the unvaccinated population than vaccinated population. Resurgent measles cases were more unvaccinated and less than one year of age. The continuous fall in the morbidity and mortality caused by measles is achieved by vaccination. In 2019, an increased number of measles cases were reported around the globe, including in Asia. A global resurgence of the disease due to several reasons such as low vaccination coverage, imported cases by travellers,