Measles Eradication in the Americas: Progress to Date

Abstract

The region of the Americas has shown extraordinary progress in its fight to interrupt measles transmission. The Pan American Health Organization's recommended strategy includes the following: a 1-time nationwide campaign targeting 1- to 14-year-old children; routine vaccination among 1-year-olds; and nationwide campaigns conducted every 4 years, targeting all 1- to 4-year-olds. Rapid house-to-house monitoring of vaccination and measles surveillance are other essential components of the strategy. During 2001, only 541 cases were confirmed in the region. In 2002, only Venezuela and Colombia had indigenous transmission. After important vaccination efforts in both countries, the last reported case occurred on 20 September 2002, in Venezuela. Since then, no confirmation exists of indigenous measles circulation anywhere else in the region. Nonetheless, important challenges remain, including insufficient coverage during routine and campaign vaccination and inadequate investigation of some cases.

Non-specific and sex-differential effects of routine vaccines: What evidence is needed to take these effects into consideration in low-income countries?

“…47 African community studies have shown consistently that female mortality is higher than male mortality prior to MV but declines markedly when the children receive MV. 46,48 Hence, it is our prediction that the relative femalemale mortality rate ratio increased in the age group 9-11 months and that the general mortality of children in the age group 9-11 increased relative to the mortality in the age group 12-14 months when the age of measles vaccine was raised from 9 to 12 months of age.…”

Assessing the cost-effectiveness of different measles vaccination strategies for children in the Democratic Republic of Congo

“…These should be implemented every 2-4 years to prevent the build-up of susceptibles [28]. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has successfully implemented SIAs since the 1990 s, which significantly contributed to the elimination of endemic measles in most Latin American countries [29]. The use of SIAs in sub-Saharan African countries has significantly contributed reductions in measles cases and deaths in that region [3,30,31].…”

Research priorities for global measles and rubella control and eradication

“…Before endemic measles virus transmission ended in the Americas in 2002, outbreaks among young adults occurred in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic [15]. Increasing vaccination coverage among children tends to shift the age of infection toward older ages; in recent years, measles outbreaks in other regions have been characterized by cases among older children and young adults [4,[16][17][18].…”