Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by an RNA−containing virus of the family Paramyxoviridae and Morbillivirus genus. The most proper way to stop it is a total vaccination. At the moment, live attenuated strains of the Enders − Schwartz measles virus are used to conduct it. Although they were developed more than 50 years ago, the vaccines in use today are effective enough to create a proper immune protection that can defend against an infection for decades, if the vaccination schedule is followed. The vast majority of measles outbreaks that have been reported in Europe over the last seven years have been caused by a lack of an immune response resulting from the unprecedented coverage of the population with vaccination. The measles outbreak observed in the adult and child population of Ukraine since December 2018 indicates the need and urgency of additional efforts to curb the spread and complete elimination of the measles virus. It has been determined that more than 95 % of the population should be vaccinated to ensure an elimination of measles virus and prevent the disease outbreaks after the virus has been imported from the countries that are still endemic to measles. It is noted that as a result of successful implementation of vaccination programs, the public's attention to measles is diminished even among physicians who sometimes have a rather dubious understanding of the disease symptoms. Ensuring a complete elimination of the measles virus requires the development and implementation of additional laboratory tests for immunity, development and realization of new, more polyvalent vaccines that are more readily accepted by population, increased awareness on safety and necessity of vaccination, as well as regulation.
Key words: measles, immunity, elimination, epidemiological control, vaccination.
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