Since April, Russia will begin a “cleansing immunization” against measles: who needs a vaccine?

The number of cases of measles is on the rise in Russia. In this regard, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, instructed to carry out a “cleansing immunization” against measles. It will run from April 3 to December 31, 2023.

Most cases of measles were detected in the Moscow, Leningrad, Samara and Novosibirsk regions, as well as in the Altai and Krasnodar regions. But “clean-up immunization” will also take place in other regions. Basically, vaccination will affect labor migrants, Russians who have never been vaccinated against measles or have no information about vaccination, as well as those who have not had measles before and have been vaccinated once.

Rospotrebnadzor also recalled that according to the National Immunization Schedule, vaccination of children at the age of 1 year and revaccination at 6 years is mandatory.

Adults need vaccination if not vaccinated as a child, and booster if vaccinated only once or if antibodies are low. At the same time, at the age of 6 to 36 years, vaccination is recommended for everyone, after 36 years of age – with a high probability of contact with measles patients, and over the age of 55 years – only with direct contact with patients.

To find out the level of antibodies to measles, you can take a blood test for IgG to this virus. With an indicator of 1.2 IU / ml or more, you don’t have to worry – you have immunity to measles. If the result is lower, it is worth getting vaccinated.

Another decision of Rospotrebnadzor concerns vaccination against diphtheria. Collective immunity to this infection in Russia is also declining. Meanwhile, in order to protect against diphtheria, the vaccine must be done every 10 years – then immunity decreases and gradually fades away. No outbreaks of the disease have yet been observed, but to prevent this from happening in the future, it is planned to vaccinate at least 95% of the country’s population against diphtheria.

By the way, to get vaccinated against measles or diphtheria, you do not need to make any special efforts – just go to any city clinic.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by Sergey Kiselyov / Moskva agency