Measles is a childhood disease, but it is making its way through the adult population. Medical professionals are the first line of people in close contact with the disease, thus they can be easily infected. Taipei Veterans General Hospital has made it a requirement that emergency medical staff wear N95 masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent transmission of the disease. The development of that situation has surprised the outside world.
The best method for preventing transmission is to receive a vaccination. The majority of frontline medical staff are between the ages of 20 and 50 years old.
Most children receive their first dose of the vaccine in early childhood, when their immune systems are not as robust — they eventually need a second dose to complete their immunization. The current wave of measles infections fall within that age group. Much younger age groups receive a second vaccination dose prior to enrollment in elementary school. When their immunity is adequate, they would not become infected.
Nearly all people who are 50 years old and older, and never received a measles immunization in their childhood gained natural immunity and for longer, often lasting until they die of old age.
There is a shortage of vaccines available for the self-paid vaccination route, but the stockpile of publicly funded doses for children procured by the Centers for Disease Control remains ample. Calls are being made urging the CDC to refer to its previous response to the measles epidemic several years ago by releasing the publicly funded measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to various medical institutes, which could alleviate fears over vaccine access for those between the ages of 20 and 50.
That being said, frontline medical staff should be given a vaccination priority — that would be much more effective than N95 masks and PPE.
Lin Yung-zen is the director of the Taiwan Primary Care Association.
Translated by Tim Smith
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