The Measles Have Returned To Australia… So What Can We Do About It?

After being declared measle-free some 10 years ago, the disease has made its way back to Australia.

The highly contagious airborne disease was one the world could have completely wiped out, but today instead, the World Health Organisation has issued an alert over “alarming” case increases in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Listen to the episode of The Briefing here:

On home soil, cases have been detected in travellers returning from overseas to Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.

What’s concerning is that measles isn’t just an itchy rash, but it can lead to some serious health complications like pneumonia and brain swelling, and in some cases, even death.

In this episode of The Briefing, Associate Professor Meru Sheel, an infectious disease expert, explains why the measles has returned in 2024 and what we can do about it.

“It’s really interesting how we are now seeing an increase in measles, it’s not surprise,” he said.

“One of the reasons why we are seeing this increase in measles is an impact of the pandemic… as you might recall, many countries had massive lockdowns and travel shut down.

“We didn’t see measles in many parts of the world because essentially, by having these lockdowns and travel shut down, all diseases that spread person to person went away for some time because that’s how these diseases spread.”

To hear more about the return of the measles, and what we can do to prevent more people contracting the disease, listen to the episode of The Briefing now.