Measles Vaccination Map (IMAGE)
Caption
Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University researchers report the African countries most affected by the 2014 Ebola outbreak -- Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- could now be highly susceptible to measles epidemics due to severe disruptions in routine health care such as measles vaccinations. The researchers mapped the distribution of the estimated 778,000 children aged 9 months to 5 years in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who had not been vaccinated against measles before the Ebola outbreak (A). Based on surveys from health-care providers, the researchers assumed that vaccinations against measles decreased 75 percent after the onset of Ebola. They then projected how the numbers of children unvaccinated against measles would increase 6 months (B), 12 months (C) and 18 months (D) after Ebola. Panel D includes the pre-Ebola distribution of measles-unvaccinated children in neighboring countries, which would be vulnerable to measles epidemics in Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone.
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Image courtesy of <i>Science</i>/AAAS
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