Measles is a disease highly contagious viral that is transmitted through droplets expelled by an infected person when speaking, coughing or sneezing.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is one of the viruses with the greatest capacity for transmission between humans, which explains its rapid spread when vaccination coverage decreases.
As explained Samuel Ponce de Leon Rosalescoordinator of the University Research Program on Epidemiological and Emerging Risks at UNAM, the infection has an incubation period of between 10 and 14 days and begins with general symptoms such as high fever, cough, runny nose, eye redness and headache. Subsequently, a skin rash appears and spreads throughout the body.
Photo: Special
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The specialist stressed that the notification of suspected cases is part of the epidemiological surveillance protocols and does not imply, by itself, the existence of an outbreak. According to the university student, it is “a preventive and transparent action” within the health system.
According to UNAM, the rebound in measles is not limited to Mexico, but is also observed in countries such as Canada, the United States and Spain. According to Ponce de León Rosales, the main cause is that vaccination does not reach the 95 percent coverage required to stop the transmission of such a contagious virus.
The specialist pointed out that, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine coverage was already showing a decline globally. During the health emergency, according to the WHO and UNICEF, difficulties were recorded in the production, distribution and application of vaccines, which widened the immunization gaps.
For Rosa María Wong Chew, head of the Clinical Research Branch of the UNAM Faculty of Medicine, the sustained decrease in coverage is the main trigger for the return of measles. Added to this is misinformation and the growth of anti-vaccine movements in different regions.
The doctor in Basic Biomedical Research and her doctoral student, Zayda Yurley Fonseca Cobos, explained that the drop in immunization against this disease occurred after the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Special
According to the World Health Organization, countries such as Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Spain, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan have reestablished endemic transmission of measles, that is, the virus has circulated continuously for more than a year. For its part, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) considers that the disease is endemic in at least 12 countries in Europe and Asia.
In the case of Mexico, data from the General Directorate of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health indicates that during 2025 6,430 cases were confirmed, in addition to more than 15,000 probable infections. So far in 2026, until January 26, there have been 1,194 confirmed cases and 2,824 possible cases, with the greatest impact on girls, boys and young people between 1 and 19 years old.
According to specialists from the UNAMthe most vulnerable people are those who do not have a complete vaccination schedule. Scientific evidence indicates that receiving at least two doses of the MMR vaccine significantly reduces the risk of infection and complications.
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