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Two-dose measles coverage advocated to reduce disease in Africa
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Progress in reducing measles morbidity and mortality was especially strong in Africa from 2001 to 2008. However, when investment and political commitment to measles control faltered after 2009 to as recently as 2011, many children were not immunized.
With that, endemic measles returned and caused large outbreaks in Africa, Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and Europe. In 2010, an estimated 19 million infants — mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia — did not receive measles vaccine. This resurgence ultimately pushed back measles elimination goals from 2010 to 2015, or to 2020 in some areas of the world.
According to a recent CDC report, this lack of vaccination and subsequent resurgence of measles in areas such as Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia require specific strategies to boost immunization efforts. The researchers said estimated vaccination coverage for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia was 56%, 86% and 46%, respectively, in 2010 and remained about the same in 2011.
To boost immunization coverage in Somalia, CDC officials recommended “days of tranquility to implement vaccination and child health days.”
In Kenya, the CDC recommended that every effort should be made to support a planned “supplemental immunization” activity day, so that children who missed their initial measles vaccinations have an opportunity to catch up.
The CDC also noted comprehensive surveillance efforts in Ethiopia that are designed to reach those children who may be in hard-to-reach areas.
To ultimately reach measles elimination goals, vaccination strategies must be implemented to achieve and maintain uniformly high two-dose measles-containing vaccine coverage to reach the 93% to 95% population immunity threshold that can provide herd immunity in all countries, according to a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant disclosures.
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