Measles cases surge nearly 80% in wake of Covid chaos, with fears other diseases could follow

The UN warned that the rise of the Canary in a coalmine was a sign that there were likely to be other diseases.

Millions of children's lives could be at risk, the UN warns, due to the interruption of vaccine campaigns caused by the coronaviruses.

Children are the main victims of measles, a disease caused by a virus. Severe respiratory infections, brain swelling, and blindness are the most serious of the consequences. According to the UN, the best way to prevent it from spreading is for people to bevaccinated at least 95 percent of the time.

Asia and Canada have been affected by the mystery hepatitis outbreak.

According to new data from the UN agencies, there were more than 17300 cases of the disease reported in the first two months of the year.

Most of the large and disruptive measles outbreaks in the year to April were in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

Christopher Gregory, senior health adviser in Unicef's immunisation section, told Agence France-Presse that the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease is measles.

He said that the diseases that could surge next were yellow fever and other diseases.

The countries that are most fragile, where the healthcare systems are already struggling, are still trying to deal with the effects of Covid on top of these outbreaks.

The UN data shows that Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia have experienced some form of conflict in the past year.

There are fears that the war in Ukraine could cause a resurgence in the country after it recorded Europe's highest rate of measles in the last two years. Gregory said that it had been difficult to keep track of any disease since the war began.

Most of the 203 million people affected by the Pandemic have not received their vaccine, according to the UN agencies.

The impact of these disruptions to immunisation services will be felt for decades to come.

It's time to get essential immunisation back on track and launch catch-up campaigns so that everyone can have access to these life-saving vaccines.

Gregory said it was time to put childhood immunisation on the same level of priority as finishing Covid vaccine.