A persistent spot of bother – why vaccinations haven’t stopped measles

Abstract

Despite high vaccination rates, Australia and other developed countries periodically have small outbreaks of measles, as seen in the recent scares in Victoria and New South Wales. Until about 40 years ago, serious measles epidemics occurred every two or three years. Virtually every child was infected within the first few years of life and one or two in every thousand died from complications. Many were admitted to hospital and some suffered permanent brain damage from encephalitis. When the measles vaccine was introduced in 1968, the incidence of the disease fell rapidly, but small outbreaks continued.A national survey in 1989 showed that 85% of Australian children were immunised. But then a large and prolonged measles outbreak in 1993-4 prompted an Australian Measles Control Campaign (MCC) in 1997.