Measles rebounds in young children after decades of global decline

A global rebound

Estimated measles cases in children under five rose 40 per cent worldwide between 2019 and 2023, from 11.1 million to 15.6 million, a University of Queensland study has found.^[1] The study, published in Nature Medicine, covered 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2023.^[2]

Associate Professor Benn Sartorius of UQ's Frazer Institute said childhood measles vaccination rates had gone backwards since COVID-19. "This has contributed to a global resurgence of measles in young children," he said.^[1]

He said the rise reversed a nearly 80 per cent fall in measles cases worldwide between 1990 and 2019.^[1]

Missed doses

An estimated 23.7 million infants missed their first measles dose in 2023.^[1] Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for half of those missed doses and South Asia for 20 per cent, Sartorius said.^[1]

Two childhood doses of measles vaccine are estimated to have prevented nearly 59 million deaths between 2000 and 2024, he said.^[1]

Australia's position

Australasia had the highest second-dose coverage of any region in 2023, with an estimated 96 per cent of children under five receiving their second dose.^[1]

National figures show a slide. Coverage for one-year-olds is 91.54 per cent and for five-year-olds 93.17 per cent, both below the government's aspirational target.^[3]

Coverage at 12 months has dropped 4.3 percentage points since 2020, and at 24 months it was below 90 per cent in 2025, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance said.^[4]

"We hope the data from our study will be used to target catch-up vaccination efforts and strengthen immunisation where support is needed most," Sartorius said.^[1]