Covid-19 has not finished making headlines. If today, serious cases are much rarer than at the start of the epidemic in 2020, since the outbreak of the latter, at least 13 infectious diseases tend to develop further. This is the conclusion of a grim analysis carried out by Airfinity and Bloomberg News, revealed on June 14. These afflictions include measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis, dengue fever, cholera and even polio.
“More than 40 countries or territories have reported at least one resurgence of infectious disease, 10 times or more compared to their pre-pandemic baseline,” the press release reveals. To arrive at these conclusions, data from more than 60 public health organizations and agencies were analyzed. “Our analysis reveals that current outbreaks can be attributed to three main factors.”
1/ The decline in vaccination rates
Measles, polio, whooping cough and tuberculosis are all preventable through vaccination, experts point out. And lament: “global measles vaccination coverage has declined, with 20 European countries falling below 90% in 2022, including the United Kingdom (87%), which is currently experiencing a national epidemic”. Austria, meanwhile, is reportedly experiencing “its worst measles outbreak on record, with cases in the first five months of 2024 already 190% higher than the pre-pandemic peak.” » Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands are on track to exceed pre-pandemic levels “if sustained transmission persists”.
As for the current epidemics of whooping cough, they could be explained in part by the pressure exerted on the bacteria to adapt. With a post-pandemic increase of 134% in cases in 2024, Spain is severely affected. France, Norway and the United Kingdom are also expected to soon exceed pre-Covid levels.
“Unvaccinated children are at greatest risk of resurgence of diseases such as measles, whooping cough, polio and RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus, Editor’s note). These illnesses can often be more serious in infants and young children than in the general adult population. Ensuring sufficient vaccination rates is crucial to preventing these vulnerable groups from becoming seriously ill”explains Kristan Piroeva, Biorisk analyst at Airfinity.
2/ The overall decline of immunity
Social restrictions, confinement…the laws introduced to protect populations from Covid-19 could have made them more sensitive. What’s more, the pandemic has led to increased testing and thus reporting of pathogens such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and invasive group A streptococcus, known as iGAS. Thus, in the United States and Europe, the total number of flu cases last season was 28% and 75% higher, respectively, than in 2019.
3/ Climate change
The metrological variations that we are currently experiencing favor the spread of diseases such as dengue or cholera and increase the penetration of pathogens into new areas. As mosquitoes move north, cases are increasing in southern Europe. Thus, while it has long been considered an endemic disease, dengue fever could now threaten nearly half of the world’s population.
Proof of this is: Italy experienced “a significant increase with its first locally acquired case detected in 2020 to 67 cases in 2023.” In France, 65 cases were reported, compared to 9 in 2019, an increase by 7.2 . As for imported cases, they have been particularly numerous this year. Since January 1, 2,166 infections have been observed, including “82% contracted in Martinique or Guadeloupe and 5% in Guyana, departments where a significant epidemic is occurring,” reports Santé Publique France. The organization also recorded 5 chikungunya infections and 2 cases of zika in total.
As a reminder, there are very simple ways to protect yourself from mosquitoes as the sunny days approach: wear loose, covering clothing, apply skin repellent products recommended by your pharmacist, sleep under a mosquito net, use electric diffusers indoors , insecticide coils ONLY outdoors, get rid of any source of stagnant water, and, if you can, turn on your air conditioning or ventilation to circulate the air in the rooms as much as possible.
