Air travel as a risk factor for introduction of measles in a highly vaccinated population

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 26; no. 46; pp. 5775 - 5777
• Main Authors: van Binnendijk, Robert S., Hahné, Susan, Timen, Aura, van Kempen, Gijs, Kohl, Robert H.G., Boot, Hein J., Wolthers, Katja C., Wetsteijn, José C.F.M., de Vries, Anne, Westert, Krista, Brown, Kevin E., de Swart, Rik L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 29.10.2008; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Air transportation; Aircraft; Airport; Allergy and Immunology; Applied microbiology; Aviation - statistics & numerical data; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Disease; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genotype & phenotype; Health services; Hospital; Hospitals; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunization; Immunoglobulin M - analysis; Immunoglobulin M - immunology; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional; Infectious diseases; Male; Mass Vaccination - statistics & numerical data; Measles; Measles - diagnosis; Measles - transmission; Measles virus; Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine - immunology; Medical sciences; Men; Mens health; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular surveillance; Netherlands - epidemiology; Nosocomial infection; Occupational Exposure; Public health; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Risk Factors; Transmission; Travel - statistics & numerical data; Urine; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies (general aspects); Viral diseases; Viral diseases with cutaneous or mucosal lesions and viral diseases of the eye; Virology; Workers; Brazil; Netherlands; United Kingdom > UK; Molecular surveillance; Hospital; Vaccination; Transmission; Airport; Measles virus; Vaccine; Paramyxoviridae; Infection; Virus; Paramyxovirinae; Mononegavirales; Viral disease; Measles; Risk factor; Morbillivirus
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.08.048

Epidemiological and molecular investigation of two small measles clusters in The Netherlands in July/August 2007 revealed an association with travel by air of the index cases and nosocomial spread in the first cluster. Although these importations did not result in an outbreak among unvaccinated subjects, the observations illustrate the challenges for measles control in a country with high measles vaccination coverage (>95%) but with pockets of low coverage.