Doses
- This vaccine is given as a single dose (sometimes earlier from age six months during a measles outbreak) No booster dose is required.
Measles
Measles is serious contagious disease caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body. Measles is a human disease and is not known to occur in animals.
Most measles-related deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease.
Measles can be prevented with the single dose vaccine or the MMR vaccine.
Warning
- Serious complications are more common in children under the age of 5, or adults over the age of 30.
- The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
- Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases.
