Given the current focus on COVID-19, serious vaccine-preventable infections may resurface if provider and parental education on pediatric immunizations is not prioritized. In this volume of The Journal, Cataldi et al present the results of a national survey that aimed to determine the current knowledge, experience and clinical practice of primary pediatricians regarding the diagnosis and prevention of measles. The major knowledge gaps identified included pretravel vaccination for a preschooler, presentation of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), and isolation practices.
SSPE is a fatal long-term complication of measles infection that causes progressive degeneration of the central nervous system. Despite its low prevalence due to widespread measles vaccination, the risk for resurgence of this devastating complication is a threat in the setting of declining immunization rates and lack of proper pre-travel inoculation. The risk for SSPE can be as high as one in 609 cases of measles when primary infection occurs before the first year of life. Young infants and partially immunized children may have milder presentations of measles that go unnoticed, but that still leaves them vulnerable to developing SSPE and other complications. Therefore, pediatricians need to ensure that every child that travels internationally should have one dose of MMR vaccine if over 6 months age, and two if older than 12 months.
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