Europe steps up measles surveillance

Measles transmission has been firmly re-established in some European Union (EU) Member States.It is astonishing to see that the EU has become an exporter of measles to the rest of the world, threatening to undermine years of efforts to eliminate endemic transmission of the measles virus. Visitors to Europe are now advised to immunise their infants as early as from six months of age in order to protect them from a disease that can result in complications and lead to severe sequelae such as brain damage and death. All this happens despite the fact that measles can be prevented through vaccination with two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, optimally the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and that measles can be not only eliminated (less than one notified confirmed endemic case per million population) but also eradicated. The conditions for eradication are favorable: humans are the only reservoir for the measles virus, the vaccine is...