• To understand the factors that can lead to a measles outbreak
• To familiarise yourself with the benefits of a vaccination programme
• To improve your knowledge of the measures that can prevent a measles outbreak
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. In late 2019, Samoa experienced an epidemic of measles, which resulted in overwhelming pressure on local healthcare services and a significant number of deaths. Gaining control of the epidemic required assistance from healthcare professionals from other countries and the implementation of a vaccination programme.
This article will review the series of events that led up to the outbreak and consider the role of primary healthcare, policymakers and governments in preventing a measles outbreak elsewhere in the world.
Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2020.e1654
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Tyldesley A (2020) Preventing measles outbreaks: a global health challenge. Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2020.e1654
Published online: 13 May 2020
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