Vaccinations to Prevent Measles

Measles is an acute airborne viral disease, which is also highly contagious. Persons who have not been vaccinated and have not contracted measles before can become infected in almost 100% of cases, regardless of age. The first signs of the disease appear on the 9-11th day after contraction, and these include a fever - 38 °C or higher, malaise, cough and inflammation of the conjunctiva. On the 13-14th day, rashes start appearing behind the ears and on the cheeks, which then progress to the rest of the body in phases. Within a day, the rash spreads to the entire face and neck, on the second day - to the chest and hands, and on the third day, it covers the entire body and limbs. Measles is dangerous due to its serious complications that may cause death: pneumonia, brain damage, blindness and deafness, multiple sclerosis, or kidney damage.

Measles Symptoms

Vaccinations are the most reliable method for preventing measles. According to the National Preventive Vaccination Calendar, vaccine injections for children should be made twice: first, when a child is 12 months old (vaccination), and second when he/she is six years of age (revaccination). Adults of up to 35 years of age must also get immunization shots if they hadn’t been previously vaccinated, don’t have any vaccination records available and have not previously contracted measles. According to the vaccine’s instructions for medical use, injections should be made twice with at least a three-month interval in between. Therefore, a person between six and 35 years of age must have two immunization shots. Persons who are residing in a high-risk measles zone, who have not been vaccinated before (or only had one vaccine injection), don’t have any vaccination records available and have not previously contracted measles are strongly advised to get an immunization shot irrespective of their age. A measles vaccination prevents the disease and makes you immune to it. 

The Moscow City Health Department and the Moscow Department of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) request that you pay special attention to the current measles epidemiological situation in Moscow. Over the first six months of 2017, 22 cases of measles were registered (vs. three cases in the same period in 2016), and the measles indicator now stands at 0.18 for 100,000 persons (compared to 0.02 in 2016). Also, 75% of these patients were children. In July of this year, 12 measles cases were registered in Moscow, and, in all of those cases, the patients did not have immunization shots.

Given the current epidemiological situation and, for the purposes of prevention of further this disease’s dissemination, Resolution No. 15, adopted by E.E. Andreyeva, the Chief State Sanitary Physician of the Russian Federation, “On Additional Sanitary and Preventive Measures against Measles in Moscow”, dated August 7, 2017, stipulates that persons working at educational institutions must receive a measles immunization shot.

Medical institutions supervised by the Moscow City Health Department have been provided with the required volumes of high-quality measles vaccine, which is absolutely safe for both children and adults. Please refer to the website for addresses and contact details of polyclinics. The Health Department’s hotline is +7(495)318-00-11.

If you do not have any records of measles vaccination available, you can take a blood test to check the number of measles antibodies at any medical laboratory for a fee. If your blood test shows that you are immune to measles, as you had contracted measles before or have been vaccinated, you do not have to take another immunization shot. 

In "Medincentre" of RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs (4^th Dobryninsky pereulok, building 4, Moscow. Metro station "Dobryninskaya", direct phone number: +7(499)237-17-06) you may have blood test to check the number of measles antibodies (890 rubles), therapist consultation and vaccination (1672 rubles). 

The Moscow Department of Rospotrebnadzor also recommends that you familiarize yourself with epidemiological information published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and use this information when planning business trips or your summer vacation.