Advertisement
Indonesia
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Measles cases spike in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines as anti-vaxxers take to social media

  • For the past two years, the Philippines and Indonesia have had the world’s second- and third-highest rates of measles, behind India
  • Mistrust, fraud, religious and ethical concerns have fuelled rising anti-vaccine sentiment

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Children with measles at a hospital in Manila. Photo: EPA-EFE
Meaghan Tobin
Vaccination rates for measles have dipped across Southeast Asia, falling below the 95 per cent mark which experts say is needed to fully protect a community from the infectious disease.
Advertisement
At the same time, cases of measles have spiked in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in recent years – part of a worldwide 50 per cent increase in measles cases seen last year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

For the past two years, the Philippines and Indonesia have had the world’s second- and third-highest rates of measles, behind India.

In the first two months of this year, 70 people died of measles in the Philippines. Cases skyrocketed to more than 20,000 last year – a 10-fold increase from 2017. In Indonesia, cases ­doubled from 2015 to a high of 11,300 in 2017, and 5,500 in 2018.

Cases of measles have spiked in recent years in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Photo: EPA
Cases of measles have spiked in recent years in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Photo: EPA
Advertisement

Measles symptoms include rashes and high fever. The disease mainly affects children and is highly infectious. According to the WHO, roughly 2.6 million people died annually from measles before the advent of mass vaccinations in the 1980s.

Anti-vaccine sentiment has been on the rise worldwide in the past two decades, particularly in the United States and in Europe – which saw 83,000 cases last year.

Advertisement