Call for Australia to step up measles vaccinations amid regional spike in cases

With a resurgence in measles cases in neighbouring countries, Australia requires a greater number of vaccinations and clinical vigilance to avoid a domestic outbreak, local health experts warned on Monday.

In a paper published in the Medical journal of Australia, they revealed that Australia's vaccination rates are below what would be required to stop transmission in the community.

Measles is the most highly communicable human virus known to man, many times more likely to be transferred between people than COVID-19, and other diseases before it.

Recently, measles has made an unwelcome comeback in some parts of the globe, with over 360,000 cases reported to the World Health Organisation between 1 January and 31 July 2019 -- three times that of the same period of 2018.

Earlier this year, the Pacific Island nation of Samoa declared a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak in which it recorded over 5,700 cases and more than 80 deaths, the majority of which were children under the age of 5.

During that time there were also smaller outbreaks in New Zealand, Tonga, American Samoa and Fiji.

"With outbreaks occurring regionally, concerted effort is required to maintain Australia's elimination of measles and continue progress towards the goal of global measles eradication," said the report, led by David Durrheim from the University of Newcastle.

Although there is an available vaccine, gaps have begun to appear in some western countries including Australia where people are turning away from getting their children immunised, citing scientifically unfounded health concerns.

According to the report, vaccination remains the best control for measles, with a population immunity of 95 percent required to eliminate ongoing transmission within a population.

However, while childhood vaccination in 2019 was above 90 percent for all Australian states and territories, few met the required 95 percent.

"Measles virus is the ultimate opportunist and will capitalise on any gaps in immunity," the report said.

"National programs are important, but measles control cannot be achieved without effective local prevention and control measures, including diligent vaccination and prompt diagnosis by alert clinicians."