Measles vaccination--what percentage uptake must we aim for?

The estimation and derivation of the average age of infection with measles among Irish children is discussed. We found that this equals 3.14 years, a figure that is considerably lower than that of other European countries particularly Britain. The average age of vaccination of children in Irish communities was 2.6 years. The reproductive rate of the disease was defined as the average number of secondary cases produced by one infectious individual in a community. From this, we extrapolate estimates for the proportion we need to vaccinate in order to eradicate measles in Ireland, which is in the region of 95% to 96%. In practice this level may be very difficult to achieve.