Measles is a highly communicable infectious disease, with 90% of susceptible contacts (those who have not had measles or are unimmunized) becoming infected after exposure to a person with measles. Serious complications include blindness, encephalitis, and pneumonia. Treatment is limited; however, measles is largely preventable through immunization, with efficacy approaching 100% after two doses of measles-containing vaccine. Although vaccination programs have eliminated endemic measles (i.e., measles circulating within the country) in Canada, outbreaks occur due to foreign travel and pools of unimmunized Canadians. Public health interventions to reduce the secondary spread of measles are vaccination of susceptible contacts; human immunoglobulin (Ig) for susceptible contacts; quarantine of susceptible contacts; isolation of active measles cases; and special vaccination clinics or activities during outbreaks to increase population immunization coverage. The objective of this study is to inform the development of a Canadian public health intervention strategy by systematically reviewing the clinical evidence on the effectiveness of these five public health interventions in reducing the secondary spread of measles during an outbreak in a population similar to Canada that has achieved elimination of endemic measles.
2015 © CADTH.