[Measles vaccination: why and how?]

The measles virus is highly contagious and may hit non-immune populations very hard, as observed on remote islands. The first live-attenuated measles virus vaccine was registered in the United States in 1963, and was imported to the Netherlands from 1968 onwards. Production was taken over by the National Institute for Public Health (RIV). Because the burden of disease was still high, measles vaccination was introduced into the Dutch National Immunisation Programme in 1976; since 1987 this has been in the form of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination. The MMR vaccine was also initially imported and later manufactured by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Since then, measles epidemics have almost exclusively affected unvaccinated populations. Vaccinated individuals are thus well-protected, as are unvaccinated individuals as long as the rate of vaccination in the surrounding population is sufficiently high. Unvaccinated individuals who travel to countries where measles is endemic are still at a higher risk. Recent studies show that measles not only has the classical symptoms, but also damages the immune system.