Measles deaths down globally

ATLANTA - Measles deaths worldwide declined dramatically to

about 200,000 a year, continuing a successful trend, global health authorities

reported yesterday.

From 2000 to 2007, annual measles deaths dropped 74 percent, largely

because of vaccination campaigns, according to a report from the World Health

Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other

organizations.

Measles has long been a leading cause of death of young children globally

and still kills more than 500 a day. But health officials estimate 11 million

deaths were avoided in the decline.

The most dramatic improvements were seen in Africa and in Middle Eastern

countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where measles deaths dropped by about

90 percent.

The least progress was in Southeast Asia, where most of the world's measles

deaths occur now. India alone accounted for about two-thirds of the world's

2007 measles deaths. Most children get only one dose of vaccine in that

country; two is standard in other nations.

The report appears this week in publications of the CDC and WHO. It was

released yesterday by the Measles Initiative, a global partnership. Last year

it reported that worldwide measles deaths dropped 60 percent from 1999 to 2005.

The estimates come from a mathematical model that factors in vaccination rates

and death rates for unvaccinated children.

Measles has been resurgent in the United States, where cases this year

reached their highest level in more than a decade. Measles deaths are rare in

the United States. Cases are, too: This year's increased case count totals only

135. Nearly half of the recent cases involved children whose parents rejected

vaccination.