Measles vaccine

• With measles cases on the rise, experts are urging everyone to make sure they are up to date on vaccination.
• Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but cases still occur when international travelers who get measles overseas bring it into the US or as cases spread in US communities with pockets of unvaccinated people.
• Severe measles cases among children, including those who are hospitalized, may be treated with vitamin A, according to an NFID report on Vitamin A for the Management of Measles in the US .
• NFID experts are available to talk about measles, the recent increase in cases in the US, the importance of measles vaccination as recommended, and treatment with vitamin A for severe cases.

• Worldwide, in the decades 2000-2020, childhood vaccination led to the reduction of deaths in children under 5 by 50% to 5.4 million deaths per year.
• These are deaths that would have been caused by measles, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, diphtheria, pneumonia, rotavirus diarrhoea, and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Scientists from the South African Medical Research Council explain why these diseases continue to threaten children’s health in the country.

The country currently has outbreaks of several diseases. What are they?

• It is the second most frequently reported disease outbreak in Africa after cholera.
• Up to 10% of children under five years of age who develop measles die from complications of the disease.
• A child requires two doses of the measles vaccine to develop protective immunity against the disease.
• The two doses of the measles vaccine are given at 6 and 12 months of age in South Africa.

These diseases are preventable. What’s behind the spread?

• The resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in South Africa is due to immunity gaps caused by low vaccination coverage.
• A national survey conducted from July to December 2019 found that only 81% of children had received all their vaccine doses scheduled up to 12 months of age in South Africa.

What’s the cause of the gaps in immunisation?

• This has led to an increase in the number of children who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.
• Structural barriers such as vaccine availability and access to health facilities are well known to reduce vaccination coverage.
• This has had a dramatic impact on routine immunisation services and ultimately reduced vaccine coverage over the years.

What steps can be taken to close these gaps?

Globally, many initiatives exist to improve childhood immunization, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Within the context of the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) programme, WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, are launching the “Big Catch-Up” initiative. This initiative aims to support countries like South Africa to plan and implement intensified efforts to bolster immunisation. It has three main objectives:
• Interventions that are focused on improving the healthcare system include cold-chain infrastructure improvements to ensure availability and access to vaccines.
• Informing and providing education to caregivers and healthcare workers has also been effective increasing vaccination in children in cases where parents were hesitant.
• However, not enough research is done on interventions to dispel misinformation and misconception regarding immunisation, which is one of the leading causes of vaccine hesitancy.

• Vaccination coverage is a measure of the proportion of children vaccinated at specific ages, while vaccine uptake is the number of children getting vaccinated.
• Researchers also looked at measles vaccination rates separately because measles is particularly contagious and causes severe disease in all age groups.\nThe researchers compared January through August 2020 with the same period in 2019.
• "\nAt Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, clinicians are addressing childhood vaccination concerns by contacting members whose children are due for vaccination and providing reassurance about safety measures being taken for vaccination visits.
• However, "This is a case where the benefit of vaccination far outweighs the risk of visiting a medical office.

• Themis announced today that Iain Dukes, MA, DPhil, currently Venture Partner at OrbiMed Advisors LLC, has been appointed as an independent director to the Companys Supervisory Board.
• With the versatility of the measles vaccine vector, Themis has created a very powerful platform for developing successful immunomodulating therapeutics.
• I am excited to be a part of the organizations further growth, commented Dr. Iain Dukes.
• Dr. Dukes received a DPhil degree from the University of Oxford where he also received an MA in Jurisprudence.