Encouraging news about worldwide measles vaccination

From ABCNews.com:

"A global immunization drive has cut measles deaths by nearly half during the last six years, the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund said Friday.

Deaths from measles dropped from 871,000 in 1999 to an estimated 454,000 in 2004, according to the UNICEF and WHO report, marking a 48 percent decrease in fatalities suffered from one of the most contagious diseases known."

A tremendous achievement, and a testament to the effectiveness of sound public health interventions and robust vaccination campaigns. Still, the potential exists for even greater victories over measles in the years ahead. Putting these global numbers in context, according to this CDC data, the total number of measles cases (not deaths) in the U.S. in 2005 was a mere 63, thanks to 40 years of vaccination.