RESUMO
A number of issues have arisen concerning the current measles epidemic. In this paper we review: 1) the causes of this cyclic rise; 2) the benefit of a vaccination program sustained during more than 15 years; 3) the vaccine efficacy, as well as 4) the vaccination coverage goal for controlling measles. Immediate causes of the epidemic recurrence are: 1) low vaccination coverage, and 2) an increasing absolute number of newborns enlarges the pool of susceptibles. A strategy to identify now-vaccinated children in a systematic fashion is suggested. As long as measles transmission occurs even if measles vaccination coverage increases, the proportion of vaccinated cases will not decrease. Within optimal values of vaccine efficacy this proportion will increase as the coverage increases. The universal goal for measles vaccination is stressed.