Printable Copy |
READER FEEDBACK ON MEASLES
Readers Athalia Christie and Robert Steinglass both respond to the update on progress of measles mortality reduction.
Athalia reminds all students of measles that the recently redone www.measlesinitiative.org is a gateway to many useful references on measles.
Robert writes as follows: 'I draw your attention to this statement in the MMWR report you just sent, which is generally overlooked:
"During 2000--2007, approximately 11 million measles deaths worldwide were averted because of measles control activities; of these, an estimated 3.6 million deaths (33%) were averted as a result of accelerated activities (i.e., increases in routine vaccination coverage and implementation of measles SIAs)."
The important implication, never stated with all the attention given to the campaigns, is that 67% of deaths were prevented by the underlying routine first dose coverage.