An estimated 15.6 million children under age 5 had measles worldwide in 2023, about 40% more than in 2019, according to a new global analysis published Oct. 21 in Nature Medicine. Researchers also estimated that 118,000 young children died from the disease that year, a 12% rise over the same period.
The study, by the GBD 2023 Measles Collaborators of the Global Burden of Disease project, links the rebound to stalled childhood vaccination after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health systems and funding. Every figure in the paper is a modeled estimate built from surveillance, survey, and vital records data across 204 countries and territories. It is not a direct count of every case.
