New England Journal of Medicine
October 30, 2014 Vol. 371 No. 18
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

Perspective
Mounting a Good Offense against Measles
Walter Orenstein, M.D., and Katherine Seib, M.S.P.H.
N Engl J Med 2014; 371:1661-1663October 30, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1408696
[Excerpt]
…Measles meets the biologic criteria for eradication. Humans are necessary to maintain the virus in nature, since there is no nonhuman reservoir. There is an effective intervention measure — measles vaccines. Diagnostic tests can confirm whether someone has measles. And proof of principle has been demonstrated by prolonged elimination of indigenous circulation of the virus in the Western Hemisphere.
It may be premature to embark on another global eradication effort until polio eradication is achieved; however, much more can be done to reduce measles transmission in its current reservoirs. We can increase support for improving global routine-immunization programs so that they include two doses of measles vaccine in their schedules and for ensuring that there is adequate vaccine and infrastructure to conduct special mass-vaccination campaigns against measles. Support is also needed for strengthening the global laboratory network to permit detection and analysis of which measles strains are persisting and which have been eliminated.5
We must also overcome vaccine hesitancy. Despite the overwhelming evidence that vaccines — including the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine — are safe, too many people still believe that greater risk is posed by vaccinating than by not vaccinating. Research is needed on how best to address public concerns about vaccine safety. The lack of apparent measles disease in the United States — which is attributable to the enormous success of the U.S. immunization program — gives a false sense that there is little or no threat. Efforts are also needed to educate the public that measles is a serious disease, which no one need suffer from, and that vaccines are highly effective in preventing it.
In the end, we can best protect our population against measles by ensuring that people eligible for vaccination are vaccinated and by supporting global efforts to go on the offensive against this major cause of the global disease burden.