Measles Epidemic Influenced by COVID-19 Epidemic

Abstract

In Western Pacific, the number of measles cases dropped precipitously in early 2020. As the coverage of measles vaccine remained almost unchanged, the precipitous drop of the measles cases could not be attributed to measles vaccine. It was probably brought about by physical distancing and other measures to prevent spread of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 cases increased wave by wave, while the number of the deaths divided by that of the patients declined. The decline of the casefatality rate could not be attributable to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, because the trend emerged from the start of the epidemic, far ahead of introduction of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.