Expert points to measles to stress need for vaccines

Vaccine skepticism is expected to have an adverse impact on the country’s overall inoculation program and public health, warned Sotiris Tsiodras, the head of the Hellenic Society for Infectious Diseases. 

“The year 2023 saw a significant increase in the number of measles outbreaks worldwide – including in 40 of the 53 countries in Europe and in at least 10 EU countries – and deaths,” said Tsiodras at a press conference on Thursday ahead of the 23rd Panhellenic Congress on Infectious Diseases in Athens, which runs until Sunday.

He bemoaned that after many years, measles, whooping cough and diphtheria are appearing in epidemic proportions again in Europe. There are no excuses, he said, for measles epidemics in 2024.

Since the beginning of the year until Thursday, Greece has had 19 confirmed cases of measles. The vast majority, mainly in the 40-55 age group and including health professionals, are unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated.