A report on Sunday has found that the measles outbreak in Madagascar killed more than 1,200 people since September.
The East African nation has been facing its largest measles outbreak with cases soaring beyond 115,000.
According to The Associated Press report, anti-vaxxers are not the driving force behind the significant rise in measles cases.
“The outbreak has mostly killed children under 15,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries. Public health officials believe that the vaccine shortage is what increasing the number of cases in the island nation.
Last month, Reuters reported that parents are desperate to get their children vaccinated, many tramping for miles to get to the clinics for MMR shots. However, there are not enough vaccines, according to the Madagascar health ministry.
Many people in the island nation are too poor to afford MMR vaccines.
In Madagascar, poverty has been one of the bigger risks. Nearly half of the children are malnourished, the highest rate in Africa.
In spite of the difficulties, some parents walk miles to seek MMR vaccine, but when they arrive, they find the clinic is closed, or a medical provider with no vaccine, or a vaccine that has been outdated.
In the United States, measles cases soared partly because of misinformation spread among parents refusing to vaccinate their children. Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio had declared a public health emergency in certain parts of Brooklyn due to a widespread outbreak in Williamsburg.
