Publication

Quantifying the success of measles vaccination campaigns in the Rohingya refugee camps

Authored by:

Chin, T., Buckee, C. O., & Mahmud, A. S.

Full Citation:

Chin, T., Buckee, C. O., & Mahmud, A. S. 2020. Quantifying the success of measles vaccination campaigns in the Rohingya refugee camps. Epidemics. 30.

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Additional key concepts from this publication:

Sustaining immunization activities and preventing vaccine-preventable outbreaks during conflict can be achieved through pre-emptive preparedness measures and concerted programmatic and financial support from governments and partners.

Key Evidence: A large measles outbreak of 1,700 cases occurred in the Rohingya refugee population in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in 2017. In response, two reactive vaccination campaigns delivered the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine to children aged 6 months to 15 years old. This modeling study found that these reactive vaccination campaigns rapidly curbed outbreak transmission, averting an estimated 77,000 measles cases in the refugee camp. This demonstrates that reactive vaccination campaigns can be highly effective in preventing large measles outbreaks in the context of refugee camps, even when prior vaccination rates are low.