Child mortality rates would be twice as high without the measles vaccine, according to new US-Dutch research based on data collected from Denmark, the US and the UK.

The research – based on data from Denmark following the introduction of the MMR vaccinations in the 1980s and carried out in the US and the UK in the 1960s – found that the benefits of the vaccine are much greater than previously perceived.

“Immunosuppression after measles is known to predispose people to opportunistic infections for a period of several weeks to months. Using population-level data, we show that measles has a more prolonged effect on host resistance, extending over two to three years,” the report found.

The research – published in the scientific journal Science – concluded that during the time that measles was a typical illness it was directly and indirectly, due to it weakening the immune system, behind half of all child deaths.

The research documents that the vaccination has a protective effect against other contagious illnesses for a period of up to three years.

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Danish support
The research compares well to Danish research that has shown over the course of 30 years that the child mortality rate in Guinea-Bissau fell dramatically following its introduction of the measles vaccine program.

The Danish researchers contend that 6,500 children’s lives can be saved every day if the Guinea-Bissau experience is applied on a global scale.

The Danish research is now being continued at CVIVA, the research centre for vitamins and vaccines at the State Serum Institute.