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Expert Rev Vaccines. 2016 Oct 3:1-14. [Epub ahead of print]
Clements CJ1 Soakai TS2 Sadr-Azodi N3.
Standard measles control strategies include achieving high levels of measles vaccine coverage using routine delivery systems supplemented by mass immunization campaigns as needed to close population immunity gaps. Areas covered: This review looks at how supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) have contributed to measles control globally and asks whether such a strategy has a place in Pacific Islands today. Expert commentary: Very high coverage with two doses of measles vaccine seems to be the optimal strategy for controlling measles. By 2015 all but two Pacific Islands had introduced a second dose in the routine schedule; however a number of countries have not yet reached high coverage with their second dose. The literature and the country reviews reported here suggest that a high coverage SIA combined with one dose of measles vaccine given in the routine system will also do the job. The arguments for and against the use of SIAs are complex but it is clear that to be effective SIAs need to be well designed to meet specific needs must be carried out effectively and safely with very high coverage and should when possible carry with them other public health interventions to make them even more cost-effective.
Pacific Island Countries and Territories; Supplementary immunization activities; acute fever and rash (AFR); measles-containing vaccine; outbreak; population immunity; routine immunization services; surveillance; susceptible; vaccine efficacy