Measles: Too few vaccinated children

The increasing number of measles cases in Austria – there are now 75 people suffering from measles – is due to the falling vaccination rate. According to Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens), the number of combination vaccinations against measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) has fallen significantly since 2020 – and thus since the beginning of the corona pandemic. While there were 338,240 doses called up for vaccination in 2019, there were only 174,907 doses in 2020 and only 158,897 doses in 2021. “Due to increasing vaccine skepticism, measles is on the rise again,” complained Minister Rauch. “My appeal: Have your vaccination status and that of your children checked and, if necessary, get your vaccination now. For the sake of your health. It is not for nothing that vaccinations are one of the greatest achievements in medicine.” From the age of nine months, two doses of the MMR vaccination are recommended. If the first vaccination is given in the first year of life, the second dose should be given after three months. Ideally, as many children as possible should be vaccinated in their first year of life, at least before they start daycare or kindergarten.

The measles virus is a highly contagious single-stranded RNA virus: Possible complications of a measles infection include bacterial superinfections with middle ear and pneumonia or inflammation of the larynx. The susceptibility to tuberculosis is also increased. In one to two cases out of 1,000, life-threatening inflammation of the brain occurs.