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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2190141&dopt=Abstract

 

Pediatr Clin North Am. 1990 Jun;37(3):603-25.

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Measles vaccines.

Markowitz LE, Orenstein WA.

Division of Immunization, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.

Measles vaccine is one of the safest and most effective vaccines currently available. Use of the vaccine has decreased the incidence of measles in both developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, preventable morbidity and mortality continue to occur. In the United States, the measles problem differs when it occurs among preschool-aged children or school-aged children. The former is a due to insufficient vaccine delivery. For measles in school-aged and college students, the problem is primarily vaccine failure, which should eventually be solved by a two-dose schedule. In developing countries, the major problem is vaccine delivery. Use of Edmonston-Zagreb measles vaccine in developing countries offers the promise of reducing disease rates in young infants; however, in both the United States and in developing countries, increasing immunization levels is essential.

FROM THE ARTICLE: "Before the introduction and widespread use of measles vaccine, measles infection was essentially universal in the United States...The highest recorded age-specific incidence rates were in children 5 to 9 years old.  From 1950 to 1959, an annual average of more than 500,000 cases and 500 deaths were reported.  However, the true number of infections was estimated to be 10 times as high."

Note:  The incidence went from around 5,000,000 cases each year (500,000 reported, 5,000,000 actual) to  less than 100,000 almost immediately post-vaccination.  Unlike the number of measles deaths, the number of cases also had not declined prior to vaccination.- SM  (Click on links below for CDC morbidity/mortality statistics)

CDCMeaslesDataPage1.pdf

CDCMeaslesDataPage2.pdf

Publication Types:

• Review
• Review, Tutorial

PMID: 2190141 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Measles Vaccines