Measles: immunity and vaccination status in Greater Frankfurt on the Main

Background and objective: The elimination of measles is a goal of the WHO which has not been achieved in Europe yet. As measles is a vaccine-preventable disease and can be eliminated by immunization the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) has updated the recommendation of measles vaccination. The goal of this study was to evaluate the immune status by serological testing and by raising immunisation status. Methods: Antibody-testing from the routine diagnostic of the Institute of Medical Virology (Frankfurt/Main) for patients, health care workers and medical students was investigated retrospectively. Results: Overall all significant increase in seropositivity was shown from 64.8 to 86.2%. Nevertheless immunity gaps still exist in population, especially in persons under 19 years of age. In 1999 80.7% of the 5-9 year age group and 75.3% of the 10-19 year age group were seropositive. In 2009 the percentage in these age groups has decreased to 68.2% and 71.1% respectively. By obtaining the immunity status of 230 travellers at our vaccination centre immunity gaps have been recognised as well. Only 29.6% were completely immunized (at least two vaccination). 54.4% have been vaccinated incomplete and in 16.1% vaccination status was unknown. Conclusion: Our results indicated that measles immunization status and seroprevalence are still not sufficient to achieve the elimination of measles.