ATLANTA - The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 18 issued a health advisory urging people, particularly children and international travellers, to get vaccinated against measles due to the increase in cases in 2024.

The CDC had recorded 58 cases of the disease across 17 jurisdictions as at March 14 – the same as the whole of 2023.

Most cases reported this year have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, the CDC said, and asked healthcare providers to ensure children are vaccinated against the disease.

The agency said the risk of wide-scale spread was low, given the currently high immunity levels in the population against measles in most US communities, but added some pockets may have a greater likelihood of outbreaks.

The American Medical Association on March 18 also urged Americans to get vaccinated against measles.

“We are reminding physicians to talk with their patients about the health risks associated with not being vaccinated and to make a strong recommendation for vaccinations, unless medically inadvisable,” said Dr Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, president of the US doctors’ body.

Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. It requires 95 per cent vaccine coverage to prevent outbreaks among populations.

However, according to the CDC, coverage with measles vaccines among US children in kindergarten has decreased to 93.1 per cent in the 2022 to 2023 school year from 95.2 per cent in 2019 to 2020.

This has left approximately 250,000 kindergarteners susceptible to the disease each year over the last three years, the CDC added.

Declines in measles vaccination rates globally have also increased the risk of measles outbreaks worldwide. The agency added that cases continue to be brought into the United States by travellers infected in other countries. REUTERS