Measles elimination 'unlikely' to occur by 2010 target
Insufficient vaccination means measles elimination unlikely by 2010
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Wednesday, 07, Jan 2009 12:30
Insufficient levels of measles vaccination in Europe means the disease is unlikely to be eliminated by 2010, a new study has suggested.
The vaccine was included in routine childhood medical programmes more than 20 years ago with the view of eradicating the disease by 2010.
But despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommending a minimum of 95 per cent vaccination coverage with two doses to ensure measles elimination, data from 32 European countries over the 2006-07 period reveals the illness is still occurring frequently.
More than 12,000 cases of the disease were found in a two-year period, mostly among unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated children, from Romania, Germany, the UK, Switzerland, and Italy.
And among the countries with high measles incidence, suboptimum vaccination coverage over a long period has been noted, meaning measles elimination by 2010 is in serious jeopardy, according to an article published online and in an upcoming edition of the Lancet journal.
In the UK, measles vaccination coverage for two-year-olds was at less than 90 per cent between 1999 and 2006, wrote Dr Mark Muscat of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Coverage among countries with zero measles incidence remained consistently high, with Finnish studies showing at least 95 per cent of children received the vaccine.
"The suboptimum vaccination coverage raises serious doubts that the goal of elimination by 2010 can be attained," the authors conclude.
"Achievement and maintenance of optimum vaccination coverage, and improved surveillance, are the cornerstones of the measles elimination plan for Europe."
Dr Jacques R Kremer and Dr Claude P Muller - of the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Measles and Rubella - added that developed nations must consider how measles can be exported to countries with poor health systems.
"Rich countries need to be responsible for avoiding cases by implementation of high vaccination coverage, to make it the privilege of resource-poor countries not to worry about reintroductions from Europe," they said.