Measles: the need for 2 opportunities for prevention.

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Abstract
Measles is one of the greatest vaccine-preventable killers of children in the world today. Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines since 1963, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 530,000 children aged <15 years died of measles and its complications in 2003 [1]. Since the 1960s, public health officials have been intrigued with the potential to eradicate measles through vaccination [2]. Three major factors suggest the scientific feasibility of eradicating an infectious disease: (1) humans are essential to maintain transmission, (2) accurate methods are available to diagnose cases, and (3) effective interventions exist [3]. Although measles can be transmitted among nonhuman primates in captivity, the preponderance of data support human-to-human transmission as essential for maintaining the virus. The clinical diagnosis of measles may be inaccurate, particularly as the disease becomes rare. However, serologic tests—particularly IgM assays, now widely available—have allowed accurate differentiation of cases caused by the measles virus from cases of other clinically compatible illnesses [4].