Measles elimination ‘unlikely’ to occur by 2010 target

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.

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.

“The suboptimum vaccination coverage raises serious doubts that the goal of elimination by 2010 can be attained,” the authors conclude.

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.