Attachments
Description of the Event
Date of event
17-03-2025
What happened, where and when?
The Republican Center for Immunoprophylaxis of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic informed that as of June 17, 2025, 8,558 suspected cases of measles and rubella were registered in the country. Of these, 8,211 cases are classified as measles, including 982 laboratory confirmed cases, 3,590 clinically confirmed cases and 3,639 epidemiologically related cases. The incidence rate is 112.8 per 100,000 population.
Territorial breakdown of measles cases out of the total number of cases is as follows: in Osh city - 549 cases, Chui region - 962 cases, Talas region- 201 cases, Naryn region - 142 cases, Batken region - 265 cases; Osh oblast - 629 cases, Jalal-Abad region - 467 cases and Issyk-Kul region 107 cases.
Jalal-Abad region is emerging as the next most affected region after Bishkek city, Osh and Chui regions, with 467 confirmed cases of measles reported as of June 17.
Analysis of vaccination status of patients diagnosed with measles by the RCI shows that the majority of them (94 per cent, or 7,724 people) were not vaccinated and only 6 per cent were vaccinated. A closer analysis shows that of those who were vaccinated, 3 per cent or 274 patients received one dose of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella and 3 per cent or 213 patients received two doses of the MMR vaccine, which shows the protective nature of the full dose of vaccination.
The majority of those who got sick with measles were getting sick before they reach their vaccine-eligible age (30 per cent or 2,502 people), or due to refusals of vaccination (44 per cent, or 3,621 children). The remaining reasons for not getting vaccinated were medical exemptions (8 per cent or 688 cases) and migration (2 per cent or 152 cases). 761 patients had an unknown vaccination status (9 per cent).
The current epidemiological situation in the country for measles and rubella has deteriorated since the beginning of 2025.
The government of the Kyrgyz Republic has not officially declared an outbreak.
As of 3 June, the government announced nine confirmed deaths due to complications of measles (1). In comparison, nine measles related deaths were reported in 2023 and five deaths in 2024.
In the previous epidemic of measles that happened in 2023 and 2024 (7,046 cases of measles reported in 2023 and 14,380 cases of measles in 2024), a similar age distribution was observed and therefore, the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic has lowered a vaccine eligible age for the first dose of MMR vaccine from two years to one year old and for the second dose, from six years old to two years old in 2024.
The situation in Kyrgyzstan is reflecting a wider regional trend of the increasing number of measles cases across WHO Europe and Central Asia region (2) (3). It is possible that the current numbers of measles in the country are underestimated.
The primary cause of the ongoing measles situations in the country is the large number of susceptible children who have not received full vaccination doses according to the national immunization schedule.
According to the UNICEF Database on monitoring the situation of children and women globally, percentage of children who received the 2nd dose of measles-containing vaccine, as per administered in the national schedule, was 93 per cent in 2023. It shows a general downward trend for the past 5 years (the same indicator was 95 per cent in 2022, 97 per cent in 2021, 93 per cent in 2020 and 98 per cent in 2019) (4).
According to the MOH data, in 2024, 91 per cent of vaccine eligible age children were vaccinated with the first dose of the MMR vaccine (MCV1 at the age of one year old) and 90 per cent with the second dose (MCV2 at the age of two years old). This is despite the intensification of vaccination work throughout 2023 and 2024 in connection with the measles outbreak in 2023.
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey conducted by National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic in 2023 shows even lower coverage: 89 per cent of children aged 12-23 months and 24-35 months were vaccinated against MMR at any time before the survey (crude coverage) (5). According to WHO, 95 per cent or greater coverage of two doses of measles-containing vaccine is needed to create herd immunity (6).
The main reason for this level of sub-optimal coverage is growing vaccine hesitancy in the country and high level of migration (internal and external).
There is a growing anti-vaccination sentiment in the country. The Republican Immunoprophylaxis Centre has received a growing number of reports of vaccination refusals since 2016. In 2021, there were more than 10,000 refusals, in 2023, there were 20,496 refusals reported, and in 2024 - 19,760 refusals were reported. Out of those 19,760 refusals, 9,664 cases were reported in Bishkek city (49 per cent of all refusals) and 4,292 cases in Chui region (21 per cent of all refusals) alone. Reasons for parents and caregivers refusal of vaccination are often due to religious beliefs, lack of trust in health system and misinformation.
As the immunization schedule was changed in 2024, there is a lack of awareness among the population of the revised immunization schedule and many children who were above the age of two in 2024 remain in the risk group. As it has been in the previous epidemics of measles, there is a spike of cases after major holidays, after the start of the academic year in September and during the cold seasons.