WHO urges mass vaccinations for preventable diseases in Ebola regions

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

published 20 March 2015

The World Health Organization on Friday called for an "intensification" of routine vaccinations for preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough in countries that have been hit hardest by the Ebola outbreak, Time reports.

"When there's a disruption of medical services, measles is always one of the first ones in the door," Justin Lessler, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Time.

Lessler and his colleagues published a study in the journal Science earlier this month warning that there could be as many as 100,000 cases of measles in Ebola-affected countries over the next year and a half, if health officials do not double down on their regular vaccination programs. Ebola has infected more than 24,700 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, and killed more than 10,000 people.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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