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A recent wave of measles infections is poised to make Australia the second-highest year in 2019 for measles reporting since 1997.
However, Australia's overall immunity remains high, experts said, despite growing anti-vaccination sentiment.
On Tuesday, Victoria's health authorities issued a warning after a person with measles left Melbourne for Christchurch on March 19th. That was after a previous incident when a woman attended Moto GP while she was contagious. Measles outbreaks have also occurred in New Zealand, Japan and the United States in recent months, and more than 200 people have died in the Philippines this year.
Australia eliminated endemic measles in 2014, which means that no Australian has been infected by another Australian since then because of the group's strong immunity to the disease. vaccination.
But infections always happen because of overseas arrivals. The number has increased in recent years due to rising anti-vaccination sentiment, increased numbers of trips and other factors, said epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, of the Western Local Health District. Sydney.
In three months, there have been eight cases of measles in Victoria and 77 throughout the country. In 2015, there were only 74 cases. According to current trends, 300 infections are on track, a number no greater than that of 2014, since 1997.
"But it's not necessarily worrying," said Meyerowitz-Katz. "The disease all comes from overseas and, given our high vaccination rate, it is unlikely to spread. But this is not an ideal trend.
"Many cases are immunocompromised or unvaccinated children for whatever reason. They catch the measles of a person they meet abroad.
"Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world. In a vulnerable population – people who have never had the disease or who have not been infected – they will spread the disease to an average of 18 people. In comparison, something like rubella or mumps spreads between four and seven people. "
The reduction in immunity levels is not entirely due to the anti-vaccination belief.
The measles vaccine requires two doses to reach its maximum effectiveness, and Australian health authorities have warned that a large number of adults aged 26 to 52 had received only one.
Measles vaccination programs began in Australia in the 1960s, but it was only in 1992 that the second dose became routine. Currently, children receive doses at 12 months and at 18 months.
The measles vaccine is 93% effective with one dose and 98% effective with two doses.
Meyerowitz-Katz said that access to health care generally contributes to the vulnerability of some regions to measles.
"The main reason people do not get vaccinated, aside from the feeling of anti-vaccination, is that services are not available or free, or can be six hours away from the city" , did he declare. "Sometimes, small or very small cities can have low immunization rates because of the nature of sparsely populated areas.
"Transient populations also have very low vaccination rates. People who do not stay in the same place long enough to see a doctor, it increases the rate of infection … Anti-vaccine sentiment is quite common in some places [but nationally] it's not just an anti-vax feeling.
"The MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] The vaccine is super safe and the Australian government offers it for free … The idea of vaccines of this type is that you reach a threshold of collective immunity, so that small 2% remainder does not catch the disease . "
Developing countries have far higher measles rates than Australia.
Victoria's public health official, Brett Sutton, said on Thursday: "There is currently a lot of measles in our area, particularly in most Southeast and Southeast Asian countries. All travelers should be aware of this risk. "
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