Researchers examined 27,551 suspected measles cases in Pakistan between 2012 and 2017 to create a model of measles transmission, and used the model to predict the impact of vaccination campaigns between 2018 and 2021; because Pakistan has a low measles transmission season from May to October, a vaccination campaign conducted in November would prevent an estimated 400,000 more infections compared with a campaign conducted in January, suggesting that the success of vaccination campaigns is influenced by the transmission season, according to the authors.
Article #18-18433: "Decreasing measles burden by optimizing campaign timing," by Niket Thakkar, Syed Saqlain Ahmad Gilani, Quamrul Hasan, and Kevin A. McCarthy.
MEDIA CONTACT: Niket Thakkar, Institute for Disease Modeling, Bellevue, WA; tel: 425-677-2965; email: nthakkar@idmod.org
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences