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 By blocking the measles infection, the vaccine prevents
measles-induced immune system damage that makes children much more
vulnerable to numerous other infectious diseases for two to three
years, a study published on Thursday found.
The research focused on a phenomenon called "immune amnesia" in
which the measles infection destroys cells in the immune system, the
body's natural defense against disease-causing microbes, that
"remember" how to fend off previously encountered pathogens.
Prior research had suggested "immune amnesia" lasted a month or two.
The new study, based on decades of childhood health data from the
United States, Denmark, England and Wales, showed the
measles-induced immune damage persisted on average for 28 months.
During that period, children who got measles were more likely to die
from other infections due to the long-lasting depletion of immune
memory cells caused by the virus.
"The work demonstrates that measles may have long-term insidious
immunologic effects on the immune system that place children at risk
for years following infection," said Princeton University infectious
disease immunologist and epidemiologist Michael Mina, whose study
appears in the journal Science.
"The work also demonstrates that, in these highly developed
countries prior to the introduction of measles vaccine, measles may
have been implicated in over 50 percent of all childhood infectious
disease deaths."
The study comes amid rising concern among public health leaders
about parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated for
measles, based on discredited claims about the vaccine's safety or
for religious and other reasons.
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Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but
increasing numbers of cases have been reported in recent years as
more people remain unvaccinated. Last year's 668 U.S. measles cases
were the most since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said.
"Our work reiterates the true importance of preserving high levels
of measles vaccine coverage as the consequences of measles
infections may be much more devastating than is readily observable,"
Mina said.
The study showed preventing measles through vaccination lowered
childhood deaths from pathogens that cause conditions like
pneumonia, sepsis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis and diarrheal diseases.
The World Health Organization said vaccination drove a 75 percent
drop in measles deaths from 2000-2013 globally, but there were still
about 145,000 measles deaths in 2013.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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