Worrying global decline in measles immunisation

Measles is one of the most contagious serious viral diseases, with a basic reproduction number between 12 and 18, but is almost completely preventable through vaccination. In the past decades, routine measles vaccinations and mass immunisation campaigns have been used globally to reduce the numbers of measles cases and deaths, administering two doses of measles-containing vaccine to as many children as possible. Before widespread vaccination drives, measles caused around 2·6 million deaths per year; however, with the wide rollout of the measles vaccine, 31·7 million deaths are estimated to have been averted globally in the past 20 years.