Measles is on the rise in Australia, like many other places. But why are vaccinated Australians now catching measles?
And has this got folks thinking it is because the disease is evolving?
Why Are Vaccinated Australians Now Catching Measles?
Well, apparently it has some folks thinking that.
Remember, Andrew Wakefield has also been talking about mutant measles.
Is that what this story in Australia was about?
No.
“In recent years, 13 Victorians have been hospitalized with measles despite having one or two vaccinations that should have made them immune. Why? Well, experts believe that because measles is so rare in Australia, we pretty much never come into contact with it, so our immune systems are starting to let their guards down and wane a little bit.”
Nathan Templeton on Measles Immunity Concerns
What is he talking about?
It’s the idea of exogenous boosting from being around natural infections. In other words, after you become immune from being vaccinated, you could get a boost in your immune protection if you are around someone with the disease.
“The exogenous boosting (EB) hypothesis posits that cell-mediated immunity is boosted for individuals reexposed to varicella-zoster virus (VZV).”
Talbird et al on Understanding the role of exogenous boosting in modeling varicella vaccination.
While this is thought to happen with chickenpox, we aren’t sure if it happens with measles.
It might, but the “problem” is that it is known that folks can have an amnestic response, so can be immune even though they have low antibody levels.
Mostly though, it is important to keep in mind that most of the people who get measles are unvaccinated, often intentionally unvaccinated.
“The key to measles elimination is increasing vaccination coverage and monitoring of measles antibody status for all ages, as well as enhancing surveillance of both domestic and overseas incidences.”
Inaida et al on Measles elimination and immunisation: national surveillance trends in Japan, 2008-2015.
So how many vaccinated Australians are getting measles?
Overall, there are 154 cases of measles in Australia so far this year.
“In Australia, the majority of measles cases are due to unvaccinated individuals becoming infected while travelling to countries in which measles is either common or there are outbreaks occurring. As measles is highly contagious, these people can then spread the disease to others, causing outbreaks, often before they are aware that they have the virus.”
Australia’s Measles Outbreaks 2019
And just as in the United States and most other countries, most of their outbreaks are started by folks who are unvaccinated.
More on Measles in Australia
- Who’s Getting Measles?
- Do You Need Another Dose of the MMR Vaccine?
- What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Measles?
- What to Do If Your Child Is Exposed to Measles
- What Should You Do If Your Child Might Have Measles
- When is Measles Season?
- Remembering When Everyone Had Measles
- Who Dies with Measles?
- How Are Australia’s New Vaccine Laws Working?
- Study – Understanding the role of exogenous boosting in modeling varicella vaccination.
- Study – Declining measles antibodies in the era of elimination: Australia’sexperience
- Study – Measles elimination and immunisation: national surveillance trends in Japan, 2008-2015.
- Australia’s Measles Outbreaks 2019
- ‘Time bomb’: two new cases as NSW faces worst measles outbreak in years
Last Updated on September 1, 2019