Measles High risk of fatal late effects

Risk of fatal sequelae in measles, scientists say higher than previously thought

07/17/2013

In view of an increasing number of measles cases in Germany, the discussion about the introduction of compulsory vaccination will not break off. Now scientists from the University of Würzburg and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) have found out that the risk of fatal sequelae of measles infection is significantly higher than previously thought. Especially among one-year-old children are at risk because they are still too young for a vaccine, it says in the study. Therefore, all adults and children should be vaccinated, in order to protect even the people for whom vaccination is not possible for medical reasons, the scientists demand. The most dramatic sequelae of measles infection include sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a severe brain infection that is always fatal.

Brain inflammation as a fatal sequel of measles
The risk of fatal sequelae of measles is much higher than previously thought. This is shown by a study by the University of Würzburg and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), published in the journal „Plos One. "According to this, especially babies who are still too young to be vaccinated are at risk.

Even years after the actual outbreak of measles, a dangerous inflammation of the brain can develop, the sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which is fatal for the person affected. „The SSPE mainly affects children and usually does not appear until several years after the acute measles disease. It leads to a creeping loss of all mental abilities and ends in a coma, in which the victims die after a few months or even years. Treatment of the SSPE is not possible“, explained Benedikt Weißbrich, research associate at the Institute of Virology and Immunobiology at the University of Würzburg.

The risk of dangerous brain inflammation by measles is below 1 in 1.330 for children below the age of five
So far, experts have assumed that this long-term success of measles occurs only in one in 100,000 patients. „However, recent studies from the UK and the US suggest that the risk is significantly greater“, declared Weißbrich. The German researchers calculated an average risk for children under five from 1 to 1,330. Thus, the dreaded brain inflammation occurs much more frequently than previously thought.

„We recorded SSPE cases in children treated in German clinics between 2003 and 2009“, reported Weißbrich. All patients were younger than five years when the measles broke out. In the same period, 42,600 measles infections were recorded. „Our study provides data on the frequency of SSPE cases in Germany for the first time and shows that the risk of SSPE in measles infections during the first years of life is considerable and by no means negligible“, stressed the researcher.

Therefore, Weißbrich considers a measles vaccine unavoidable. However, vaccination in children is only possible after the age of eleven months. „Especially children in their first year of age, for whom the SSPE risk is highest, can therefore not be protected from the SSPE by a measles vaccine“, said the expert, calling for parents to vaccinate their children. „Only when as many people as possible are immune to measles can it be possible to eliminate the disease and protect children in their first year from a terrible disease.“

Discussion about the introduction of a compulsory vaccination does not stop
So far, 1,040 cases of measles have been registered in Germany this year. The demand for compulsory vaccination is becoming louder among health experts, professionals and politicians. A survey by the German Health Insurance Fund DAK-Gesundheit also found that nearly 80 percent of participants would welcome the introduction of a duty to vaccinate.

However, experts such as Jan Leidel, head of the permanent vaccination committee (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), and Jens Ackermann, chairman of the FDP in the health committee, are against compulsory vaccination. Above all, it was also a question of the consequences that threatened the parents in the event of non-compliance. Opposite the „Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung“ Ackermann wondered if these parents should then be jailed. Instead of vaccination Leidel advocates better education and the exhaustion of other existing measures. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set itself the goal of eradicating measles in Europe by 2015. (Ag)