If we talk about numbers, in 2023 the incidence of measles increased by 127 times compared to the previous year and reached 8.92 cases per 100,000 people. In 2022, this figure was 0.07 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. And in 2019, when a measles outbreak swept the country, the infection was detected in 3.06 cases – still less than in 2023.

The last time a record number of measles cases was recorded in Russia was in 1994, 30 years ago. Then 28.6 thousand people were infected – this is almost 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Subsequently, the incidence rate decreased and did not exceed 4.8 thousand people.

Why has measles reached an anti-record again? Some doctors attribute this to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that during the period of restrictions, children were not vaccinated or were vaccinated later than expected.

— The increase in measles incidence is mainly due to the failure of vaccination efforts. During the pandemic, clinics were so overloaded that they stopped monitoring vaccinations. And the parents of the children were afraid of contact with coronavirus infection, and the visits themselves to the clinics were limited,” immunologist Vladimir Bolibok explained to MSK1. “As a result, there is now a fairly large layer of children who have not been vaccinated against measles on time.

Therapist and candidate of medical sciences Andrei Kondrakhin, on the contrary, believes that the increase in the number of unvaccinated children during the pandemic is small and the incidence situation was influenced by the annexation of new territories to Russia and anti-vaccine programs.

— If we remember our neighboring country, which is unfortunately hostile to us, they stopped buying measles vaccines from us and the population was not vaccinated, and this is precisely the population of children. As a result, all units and regions that joined us fell into this unfortunate group of people who did not have the opportunity to get vaccinated,” Kondrakhin explained.

In addition, a large number of people do not vaccinate their children on principle. According to Kondrakhin, anti-vaccines reduce population immunity and Russians suffer from measles epidemics.

— What is herd immunity? This is when around 85% of children are vaccinated. A small percentage of unvaccinated people (15 to 20%) does not pose any problem in relation to the general context,” the doctor noted.

If the vaccination rate drops below 80%, measles could then appear.

Andrey Kondrakhin, general practitioner

Another important reason is the lack of revaccination. The therapist emphasized that adults who were vaccinated as children should be vaccinated again. However, no one does this.

— The last time we had to revaccinate was at the age of 30. But honestly, hand on heart, who did this? And who did the antibody test?

According to Kondrakhin, anyone vaccinated against measles can contract a mild form of the infection and infect others. It is important to take an antibody test and find out if you are protected against the disease.

Last year in Russia there were problems with “children’s” vaccines against measles, rubella and mumps. Parents could not vaccinate their children because vaccines were disappearing even from clinics. Indeed, the production of measles vaccines fell sharply in 2023, Nikolai Bespalov, development director of the analytical company RNC Pharma, told MSK1.RU.

— Vaccine production then fell by 31% compared to 2022 (a total of 3.2 million doses were produced). About 18% of this volume was produced in December, meaning doctors and patients only saw them at the beginning of this year. In fact, there has been a serious shortage of vaccines, Bespalov explained.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin attributed the vaccine shortage to a shortage of chicken eggs, needed to produce the drugs. Bespalov emphasized that special quality eggs are used to cultivate viruses, which were imported in significant volumes, but after 2022 supply problems arose.

— This year, the situation has generally returned to normal. In the first three months, the market received 1.4 million doses, almost four times more than in the first quarter of 2022, he said.

According to the expert, if vaccine production activity continues at the current level, we will receive 5-6 million doses by the end of the year. But this is still not enough to solve the problem of the spread of measles. Russia is expected to need 12 to 15 million doses per year.

At the beginning of 2024, the Belgian combined vaccine Priorix-Tetra began to be placed on the market. Its supply volumes are low and unlikely to increase significantly, Bespalov believes. Instead of the American MMP-2 vaccine that disappeared in Russia, a domestic analogue Vaktrivir appeared.

Although measles is a childhood infection, it is very dangerous for adults. The older a person is, the more they suffer from childhood illnesses, Vladimir Bolibok emphasized.

Measles can cause many complications: measles pneumonia or measles encephalitis. There is also a fulminant form of measles, when a person dies within a few days. There is no special pill for measles; it must be treated symptomatically.

– Antipyretic, in case of itching – stabilizing agents and antihistamines. If complications arise, they also depend on the symptoms: either antibiotics for pneumonia, or hormonal drugs, steroid hormones for severe measles,” Bolibok said.