Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

Hard lessons from a city that tried to privatize public health

If you were growing up in Detroit in the 1970s or '80s, chances are you knew the city's Herman Kiefer public health complex by both sight and reputation.

6 Aug 2021

Multibillion dollar crusade to eradicate polio appears to have come to an end

The polio juggernaut, which has skidded past eradication deadline after deadline, seems to have finally run out of fuel, suggests an investigation published by The BMJ today.

29 Jul 2021

COVID-19 lockdown linked to fall in early childhood vaccination in England, a rise in Scotland

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) led to numerous and sweeping restrictions in many countries, including the UK, limiting social and economic activity.

26 Jul 2021

Global economic recovery at risk due to COVID-19 vaccine inequity

New Global Dashboard on COVID-19 Vaccine Equity finds low-income countries would add $38 billion to their GDP forecast for 2021 if they had the same vaccination rate as high-income countries. Global economic recovery at risk if vaccines are not equitably manufactured, scaled up and distributed.

23 Jul 2021

Study suggests COVID-19 vaccine confidence and hesitancy in the UK driven by trust, not misinformation

An interesting new study reports that vaccine hesitancy in the UK is driven not, as is commonly thought, by the so-called ‘infodemic’ of misinformation that has characterized much public messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the personality of the individual, the ability to trust scientific and government leadership, political affiliations, and openness relative to the process of vaccine development was found to be key in the development of this attitude.

20 Jul 2021

India's Mission Indradhanush improves vaccination outcomes for children

Researchers at CDDEP recently published 'Improving vaccination coverage and timeliness through periodic intensification of routine immunization: evidence from Mission Indradhanush' where they evaluated the performance of India's Mission Indradhanush (MI) child vaccination campaign -- a periodic intensification of the routine immunization program.

16 Jul 2021

23 million children missed out on basic vaccines in 2020 due to COVID-19, new data shows

23 million children missed out on basic vaccines through routine immunization services in 2020 – 3.7 million more than in 2019 - according to official data published today by WHO and UNICEF.

15 Jul 2021

Clinical observations show acute myocarditis developed after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

Four patients suffering from acute myocarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination suggests that further investigation is needed.

29 Jun 2021

Public opinion surveys could be used to understand regional variation in vaccine hesitancy, say experts

Public opinion surveys could be used more widely to understand regional variation in vaccine hesitancy, experts have recommended.

29 Jun 2021

Phenomenological model describes and regularizes COVID-19 data

The COVID-19 epidemic, which began late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread throughout the world, was accompanied by unprecedented releases of reported case data. Now, researchers propose combining phenomenological descriptions with epidemiological dynamics for an entirely new perspective on these data.

24 Jun 2021

Could polio vaccines induce cross-reactive antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2?

A new preprint released on the medRxiv* server explores a link between immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the earlier SARS-CoV, and childhood poliovirus vaccination. Almost 90% of the world’s people have received this vaccine, but antibodies elicited by it reduce over time and are almost absent at the end of adolescence.

24 Jun 2021

First spatial scan analysis helps identify hotspots of undervaccinated children

The map of Montana Kayla Irish pulls up is peppered with red circles, each cluster providing details behind one of today's timely topics - childhood vaccination.

23 Jun 2021

Prior vaccination against diphtheria and tetanus associated with less severe COVID-19

The researchers found that individuals with registered diphtheria or tetanus vaccinations were less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than people who had only received other vaccinations. The results of this study are posted to the medRxiv* preprint server.

16 Jun 2021

Joint ICMRA and WHO statement explains how COVID-19 vaccines are regulated for safety, effectiveness

Healthcare professionals and public health authorities have a central role in discussing vaccination against COVID-19 with their patients.

13 Jun 2021

The potential of mRNA vaccines for a wide range of diseases

A new review article published in the journal Briefings in Functional Genomics focuses on the general characteristic features and mechanisms of mRNA vaccines. Further, this review has summarized the current progress of mRNA vaccines that have been developed for wide-ranging diseases, including COVID-19 disease.

8 Jun 2021

Researchers review environmental risk assessments for recombinant COVID-19 viral vector vaccines

In a recent review, published in the journal Vaccines, researchers in Belgium look at the recombinant viral vector-vaccine candidates that are primarily against SARS-CoV-2 still in development and discuss their features from an environmental risk point of view.

8 Jun 2021

Experts offer plausible solutions to mitigate zoonotic risk associated with intensive animal agriculture

As early as the Neolithic period (circa 3900 BC), the domestication of animals likely led to the development of diseases including measles and smallpox. Since then, zoonotic disease has led to other major transnational outbreaks including HIV, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and H1N1 swine flu, among others.

3 Jun 2021

Childhood vaccination rates in Texas have dropped steeply during COVID-19 pandemic

A team of researchers from universities in California and Texas has found immunization rates for children in Texas for a wide range of diseases, including polio and measles, have dropped steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 Jun 2021

Old vaccines can stimulate the immune system to provide protection against other infectious diseases

Inoculation with live attenuated vaccines (LAV) such as those used against TB, polio or measles can stimulate the immune system to provide protection against other infectious diseases, including COVID-19, says a new study.