Peer-reviewed article
Measles outbreaks in Azerbaijan.
Halima Safarli, Mestan Emek, Nigar Mutalibova, Afet Akbarova, Aygun Ismayilova et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Azerbaijan experienced large measles outbreaks between 2023 and mid-2024, affecting over 31,000 people. About half of the cases were children aged 5–13 years, and many cases occurred in rural areas. Vaccination coverage dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, falling to 78.9% for the first dose and 89.9% for the second dose. The study shows that the decrease in vaccinations during the pandemic directly led to the resurgence of measles.
Key points
- 31,730 measles cases reported between January 2023 and June 2024
- 52.2% of cases in 2023 and 47.3% in 2024 were children aged 5–13 years
- 52.6% of cases in 2023 and 51.9% in 2024 occurred in rural areas
- Vaccination coverage decreased to 78.9% for first dose and 89.9% for second dose in 2020–2021
- 42.1% of cases in 2023 required hospitalisation
Limitations
This is a secondary data analysis of reported cases and does not examine barriers to vaccination or reasons for low coverage in specific populations. The document does not evaluate the effectiveness of any proposed prevention strategies.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Measles, a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable, airborne disease, resurged globally post-COVID-19 pandemic, and Azerbaijan reported 31 730 cases between January 2023 and June 2024. AIM: To analyse the measles outbreaks in Azerbaijan and propose prevention strategies. METHODS: We collected and analysed secondary data on measles cases reported to the Hygiene and Epidemiological Centers of Azerbaijan for January 2023 to June 2024, including vaccination coverage data for 2017-2023. RESULTS: A total of 13 207 cases were recorded in 2023, and this increased to 18 523 by June 2024. Of these cases, 52.2% were children aged 5-13 years in 2023 and 47.3% in 2024, while 42.1% of the cases in 2023 were hospitalised. Rural areas accounted for 52.6% of cases in 2023 and 51.9% in 2024. Measles-containing vaccine coverage decreased significantly nationwide in 2020-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic: 78.9% coverage for first dose and 89.9% for second dose. CONCLUSION: Pandemic-related decrease in vaccination coverage caused measles outbreaks in Azerbaijan, which disproportionately affected children and rural populations. To prevent future outbreaks, there is a need to rapidly increase vaccination coverage, alongside awareness campaigns, and to strengthen surveillance systems.