US loses measles elimination status as Australian vaccination rates fall

Detailed summary

More than 5000 measles cases have been recorded in America this year, the highest tally since 1991. It means that, after 26 years, the US has officially lost its measles…

The United States has lost its measles elimination status after recording its worst year for infections in three decades, prompting Australian health experts to warn falling vaccination rates here could leave us vulnerable.

More than 5000 measles cases have been recorded in America this year, the highest tally since 1991. It means that, after 26 years, the US has officially lost its measles elimination status.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: US loses measles-free status as Australian experts warn travellers

Australia has held measles elimination status since 2014, but South Australia has been battling an outbreak. In Sydney last week, a returned traveller went through the airport while infectious.

“If those outbreaks are sustained, it is quite possible that we lose that measles-free status,” Mark Naunton of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia warned.

Measles is the most contagious human disease. It can spread even before the rash appears and can be serious.

“Most people will recover. But some people can become really unwell,” Linny Phuong, a paediatric infectious diseases physician, said.

“The complications that we see are things like pneumonia. We can see inflammation of the brain.”

In some Australian states, vaccination rates are falling in some states below the 90 per cent benchmark.

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