RESURGENT MEASLES IN EUROPE

Thursday, 8th of December 2011

In French and English at http://www.who.int/wer/2011/wer8649.pdf

RESURGENT MEASLES IN EUROPE

Editorial note. The increase in the transmission of measles virus in the European Region reveals a serious challenge to achieving the regional elimination goal by 2015: failure to vaccinate. This report shows that despite high coverage of MCV in the Region, MCV1 coverage remains <95%, particularly in the western subregion, and confirms that, as shown previously, susceptible groups that can support ongoing transmission exist, and this may lead to large-scale outbreaks.3, 9 To increase immunity levels in the Region, additional measures need to be taken to target susceptible populations in order to achieve ≥95% coverage with 2 doses of MCV.

The principal factors contributing to the decreased demand for measles vaccine in the Region include hesitancy to be vaccinated due to a lack of knowledge of the seriousness of the disease, scepticism about the benefits of vaccination, increased fear of adverse events following immunization, and limited access to health care for some underserved populations.9 Religious or philosophical objections to vaccination are serious barriers to increasing the population’s immunity in certain communities, particularly in the western subregion.9

The accumulation of susceptible individuals among older children and young adults as a result of low coverage in the past, and the decline in natural exposure to measles virus as a result of successful vaccination programmes, has led to an increase in the age of measles patients in the European Region.3, 10 The changing epidemiology of measles requires strategies tailored to older age groups, as well as strategies to prevent transmission among infants too young to be immunized. In order to prevent further spread of the virus, effective surveillance, outbreak prevention and control measures need to be continued, especially prior to mass gatherings (for example, before the upcoming European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine in 2012).