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Measles and rubella: the MR vaccine and India's elimination goal

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: WHO fact sheets (measles, rubella); PIB (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare); National Health Mission

Measles and rubella: the MR vaccine and India's elimination goal
Illustration (AI-generated)

Measles and rubella are contagious airborne viral diseases prevented by the combined measles-rubella (MR) vaccine, given free in two doses at 9-12 and 16-24 months under the Universal Immunization Programme. India's target is to eliminate both by 2026, the goal of the National Zero Measles-Rubella Elimination Campaign launched in April 2025.

Syllabus: Prelims · Science & Technology; GS2 · Welfare of Vulnerable Sections; GS2 · Health, Education & Human Resources

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 health and GS3 science cover vaccine-preventable diseases. Prelims can ask how measles and rubella spread, congenital rubella syndrome, the MR vaccine schedule and the Universal Immunization Programme's coverage; Mains, why elimination targets keep slipping.

In short

Measles and rubella are airborne viral infections prevented by one combined vaccine; India seeks their elimination through two free MR doses under the Universal Immunization Programme.

India's measles-rubellaelimination planOver 95% two-dosecoverageCase-basedsurveillanceOutbreak responseDemand generation

Elimination by 2026 hinges on closing district-level gaps and catching every case; otherwise measles will keep exposing weak routine immunisation.

Why it matters

A baby born deaf or with a heart defect because the mother caught rubella early in pregnancy faces costly lifelong care that one vaccine dose would have prevented. A malnourished toddler who catches measles risks blindness, pneumonia or death. Two free doses of the MR vaccine before a child turns two protect against both. Because measles spreads so easily, a small pocket of unvaccinated children in a slum or migrant settlement can start an outbreak, so the goal depends on reaching every child, not on good national averages. Success would also show that routine immunisation reaches the last mile for every other vaccine.

Prelims pointers

  • UIP diseases: nationally diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, rubella, childhood TB, hepatitis B and Hib; sub-nationally rotavirus, pneumococcal pneumonia and Japanese Encephalitis.
  • Japanese Encephalitis vaccine under UIP is given only in endemic districts, not nationwide.
  • Rubella vaccines come as monovalent or combined: measles-rubella (MR), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and MMRV with varicella.
  • Measles is infectious from four days before to four days after the rash; symptoms begin 7-14 days after exposure.
  • WHO recommends two vitamin A doses for children under five with suspected measles, to prevent eye damage and other complications.
  • Measles and Rubella Partnership members: American Red Cross, Gates Foundation, Gavi, US CDC, UN Foundation, UNICEF and WHO; begun in 2001 as the Measles and Rubella Initiative.
  • In 2015 the WHO Region of the Americas became the first declared free of endemic rubella transmission.
  • UIP milestones: polio eliminated in 2014, maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2015.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to measles, consider the following statements:

1. It spreads mainly through food and water contaminated with the virus.

2. An infected person can transmit it from four days before to four days after the rash appears.

3. WHO recommends vitamin A doses for children under five with suspected measles.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. Measles is airborne, not food-borne; the other two statements match WHO.

Statement 1: incorrect. Measles spreads through infected nasal or throat secretions and air breathed by an infected person, not through food or water.

Statement 2: correct. WHO says an infected person can transmit measles from four days before to four days after the rash erupts.

Statement 3: correct. WHO recommends two vitamin A doses for children under five with suspected measles, to prevent eye damage and blindness.

Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong because measles is an airborne disease. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Sounds right. Many childhood infections spread through dirty water, so a food-and-water route sounds plausible for measles.

Remember: Measles is airborne, infectious four days either side of the rash; vitamin A for under-fives.

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