JUST two months into 2024 and we’ve already seen outbreaks of several killer diseases – some of which we had already consigned to the history books.
Measles is staging a comeback around the world, with whooping cough not far behind – a retro bug many thought had been vaccinated out of existence a century ago.
Infectious that were once common within society have come back with force
There is also a global shortage of the cholera jab and even a case of bubonic plague for one unlucky cat owner in the US.
“In the West we tend think of these diseases as having disappeared,” Professor Tom Solomon, director of The Pandemic Institute, tells The Sun.
“However, they have not gone at all, they are just being controlled by good public health measures,” he adds – life-saving measures that experts warn are waning.
Here, we look at each bug making a re-emergence, where cases are rising, and we ask infectious disease scientists if these outbreaks could become a bigger issue…
1. Measles
Symptoms:
A high temperature
A runny or blocked nose
Sneezing
A cough
Red, sore, watery eyes
Small greyish-white spots on the inside of the cheeks
A red-brown blotchy rash
Cases of measles, one of the world’s most infectious diseases, have increased by over 3,000 per cent in Europe in the last year.
More than 30,000 infections were reported between January and October 2023, up significantly from the 941 in all of 2022, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The surge is being blamed on falling vaccination coverage in all 53 of the European member states since 2020. This includes the UK.
At least 650 people in England and Wales have already caught measles since October and more than three million are still not fully vaccinated with the MMR jab.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has started running an ad campaign on TV and social media in a bid to get more kids jabbed.
“Measles is so infectious that if vaccine uptake is lowered even by a few per cent, then larger outbreaks are likely,” Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, warns.
“The target for measles vaccination is 95 per cent but many parts of the UK have an uptake of around 75 per cent, so there are many people who remain unprotected.”
Prof Tom previously told the Sun that as many as 1,500 children in the UK could die of a brain swelling measles complication encephalitis if the current outbreak is not taken more seriously.
Encephalitis is a rare complication of measles that happens when the virus enters the brain.
“Inevitably, there will be children who develop measles encephalitis and are at risk of death or brain damage,” Prof Tom said.
“This disease is completely preventable by vaccination.
“We must do everything we can to get people vaccinated.”
2. Whooping cough
Symptoms:
Coughing, violently and rapidly, until all the air has left the lungs and a person is forced to inhale, causing a “whooping” sound
Sneezing
Nasal discharge
Fever
Sore, watery eyes
Lips, tongue, and nailbeds may turn blue during coughing spells
Earlier this month, cases of the dreaded whooping cough, also called as the ‘100-day-cough’, reached a 10-year-high in England and Wales.
A total of 412 Brits fell ill with the bacterial infection medically known as pertussis in the week leading up to February 4.
Altogether, that adds up to 1,416 suspected cases of whooping cough in the first five weeks of 2024. Cases are also risking in Europe and Asia.
“There are often larger outbreaks of whooping cough every few years,” Dr Michael says, which is usually down to a fall in vaccine upatake.
Much like with the measles jab, vaccine rates for pertussis are falling in the UK.
“Whooping cough is a very nasty infection, particularly in babies,” Dr Michael explains.
“Any outbreaks among vulnerable populations can lead to preventable hospitalisations and deaths. Thus, protection from the vaccine is the best approach.”
3. Cholera
Symptoms:
Profuse watery diarrhoea, sometimes described as “rice-water stools”
Vomiting
Thirst
Leg cramps
Restlessness or irritability
Since the start of the year, cases of the tropical disease cholera have started popping in some holiday hotposts.
Almost 41,000 cases of the deadly bacterial infection that causes relentless diarrhoea have so far been reported in 2024, according to the WHO.
The widespread outbreak has so far killed 775 across 17 countries in the Americas, South East Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and Africa.
Efforts to curb the spread of cholera have been hampered by a critical shortage of oral cholera vaccines, officials warned.
The health watchdog last year branded the global resurgence of cholera as a grade three emergency, its highest classification.
“Increases in unpredictable and severe weather events, such as flooding, can result in increased waterborne diseases, and that includes cholera,” Dr Michael said.
“If we combine that with vaccine shortages and outbreaks in hard-to-reach areas, then cases of cholera can easily spread,” he added
The countries grappling with the biggest surge in cases this year are Zambia and Zimbabwe, which recorded 8,300 and 6,600 cases respectively throughout January.
But popular holiday destinations like South Africa and India have also seen cases of the deadly bacterial infection, which spreads through drinking unclean water and eating infected food.
Although no cases have been spotted in the UK, Dr Michael warned we could start seeing infections closer to home.
“Our future over the coming decades is likely to involve some of the tropical infections we’re not used to seeing here,” the expert added.
4. The bubonic plague
Symptoms:
Fever
Headache
Chills
Weakness and one or more swollen, painful lymph nodes (called buboes)
A case of the bubonic plague – the horrifying disease that killed tens of millions of people in medieval Europe – was reported in Oregon, in the US, last month.
The disease is believed to have been passed on to the unlucky individual from a pet cat.
And at the time, health officials said there was “little risk” to other people in the community.
“Plague has always been with us, and nowadays, it rarely causes big outbreaks,” Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia (UEA), told the Sun.
“But when it does, it is usually because the infection spread from animals living with humans.”
This appears to be true for many recent cases in the US, for which the majority have been reported in people who get too close to prairie dogs.
“We could see more cases in the future if we live closer to animals and if climate change continues to get worse,” the Prof warned.
The disease is easily treatable with modern medicine – but left untreated, most infected will die within a week.
Some other countries suffer regular outbreaks of the bubonic plague due to animals carrying the bacteria.
The plague has been reported in Peru, China, Bolivia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Russia.