– Measles alerts have been issued in several Australian states due to a small number of cases in travellers returning from overseas.
– The World Health Organization reported a 45-fold increase in measles cases in Europe last year, with 42,200 cases recorded in 2023 compared to 941 in 2022
– South Asia, India, and Pakistan have also reported outbreaks of measles in recent week
– Australia has an excellent outbreak surveillance in all state
– Vaccination is the most effective strategy to protect against measles, with two doses of the MMR vaccine provided to children at 12 months and 18 month
– Immunisation rates are faltering globally, with a drop in childhood vaccinations over the course of the COVID pandemic
– About 95% vaccination coverage is needed to achieve herd immunity against measle
– Australian government reported immunisation rates across all childhood vaccinations of 93.26% for one-year-olds in September 2023.