AUSTRALIANS born from the late 1970s onwards are being urged to check their measles vaccination status, with new research revealing millions may not have sufficient protection against the highly contagious disease.
A study led by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), published this week, estimates 1.7 million Australians were susceptible to measles in 2019.
Researchers warn the immunity gap may now be wider, with childhood vaccination rates declining since the COVID-19 pandemic and measles cases increasing.
Australia recorded 181 measles cases in 2025, compared with just single figures in some years following the country’s elimination of endemic measles.
So far in 2026, 113 cases have been recorded nationally.
People born from 1977 onwards had at least five per cent susceptibility in every birth group studied, while those aged 15 to 35 accounted for half of Australia’s reported measles cases between 2008 and 2022.
NCIRS epidemiologist and lead author Zoë Croker said Australia remained a measles elimination success story, but the country was closer to the threshold needed to prevent outbreaks than many might realise.
“Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known,” she said.
“Even relatively small immunity gaps in communities can create opportunities for the virus to spread when cases are imported from overseas.”
The researchers are particularly urging people planning overseas travel to check whether they have documented evidence of two measles-containing vaccine doses.
Australia has kept its WHO-certified measles elimination status since 2014, but researchers warn that status is not guaranteed.
“‘While we have maintained our measles elimination status since 2014, protection isn’t shared evenly across the population, and the margin for error is relatively small,” Ms Croker said.