The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations is reviewing the current two-dose measles vaccine schedule. An earlier vaccine at four months of age instead of 12 may be required, according to new research from scientists at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. There are calls for the Australian government to provide more measles vaccines to developing countries to control the global outbreak.
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00:00Most parents of young children these days haven't had measles in their lifetime and
00:07so that means their antibody levels are much lower than older Australians who grew up when
00:11measles was much more widespread.
00:14So what we're seeing is pregnant women have much lower antibody levels at the moment and
00:19therefore they're transferring fewer on to their babies.
00:24So previously maternal antibodies were thought to protect children for around 9 to 12 months.
00:29Now they're barely hanging around for 3 months.
00:33So that's quite a drop off.
00:35It's also worth noting that a lot of countries already vaccinate earlier than Australia.
00:39Our first dose is recommended at 12 months but most other countries have a 9 month first
00:45dose recommendation.
00:46And how many cases of measles do we currently have in Australia, Paige?
00:52Yes, so we've got 77 this year so far and that's an increase on last year where we
00:59saw 55 for the whole of 2024.
01:03Most cases at this time are in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
01:09And this surge in cases is alarming because our childhood vaccination rates are declining.
01:17At the moment 92% of two year olds are fully vaccinated for measles.
01:21We need 95% coverage to maintain herd immunity.
01:27So to put this into perspective, measles was declared to be eliminated in Australia 10 years
01:32ago.
01:33So right now most cases are coming through from international travel.
01:38And although today we're talking about the possibility of a four month dose, a lot of people don't know
01:44that you can already get your baby vaccinated at six months if you are going overseas.
01:49So that is definitely worth remembering.