The vaccination rate of 95 percent required to eradicate measles has so far only been achieved in a few federal states in Germany. In 2014, only 92.8 percent of those starting school in Germany had received the relevant second measles vaccination. The measles vaccination rate in 2013 was 92.6 percent.
At the age of 24 months, only 71 percent of the children have received the second measles vaccination, which shows an RKI evaluation of accounting data from the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. The highly contagious measles viruses repeatedly lead to diseases and can sometimes trigger long chains of infection because many adolescents and young adults are not vaccinated against measles at all or are insufficiently vaccinated. Since the middle of 2015, it has been a legal requirement that doctors of all age groups check the vaccination status and point out missing vaccinations during all health examinations. The Standing Vaccination Committee at the RKI recommends the measles vaccination to all adults born after 1970 who were not vaccinated at all or only once in childhood, or whose measles vaccination status is unclear. The costs of the measles vaccinations and the other vaccinations recommended by the vaccination commission are covered by the statutory health insurance companies.
In order to elucidate the transmission paths of measles, appropriate data must be collected and the viruses examined. The National Reference Center for Measles at the RKI offers free diagnostics for suspected cases of measles. The health authorities, who investigate the individual measles diseases and collect data, also play an important role. Laboratory and registration data are required, among other things, to document the elimination process to the World Health Organization (WHO).