Measle vaccination

Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Marc Sprenger has urged doctors and nurses to provide parents who do not want to vaccinate their children (for political, religious or other reasons) with balanced and evidence-based information  to help make informative decisions regarding vaccination. He did so on the Excellence in Paediatrics conference in Doha last week. The vaccinations are not only to protect the children who are invited for vaccination, but also those who are too young to be vaccinated (younger than 9 months). These children are especially at risk as they can contract the disease if the immunity of the community where they grow up is too low. One of the risks for children infected with measles at that age is subactute sclerosing pan-encephalitis (SSPE), also known as Dawson Disease, which is characterized by progressive psycho-neurological deterioration, seizures and coma.  In the Netherlands, the RIVM (Dutch Institute for Public Health and the Environment) has confirmed 2,439 cases of measles (1 May – 4 December 2013), of which a 17-year old girl who died of measles complications. During earlier outbreaks in 1999/2000, 150 children were hospitalized and 3 died.

There currently is no cure or treatment for infection with measles (Morbilli virus) but a vaccine (MMR) is available.