Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep 14;22(37):30614.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.37.30614.

Ongoing outbreak with well over 4,000 measles cases in Italy from January to end August 2017 - what is making elimination so difficult?

Antonietta Filia  1   2 , Antonino Bella  1   2 , Martina Del Manso  1 , Melissa Baggieri  3 , Fabio Magurano  3 , Maria Cristina Rota  1
Affiliations

Ongoing outbreak with well over 4,000 measles cases in Italy from January to end August 2017 - what is making elimination so difficult?

Antonietta Filia et al. Euro Surveill. .

Abstract

We report an ongoing measles outbreak in Italy, with over 4,400 cases reported in 20 Regions from January to August 2017. Median age was 27 years, 88% of the cases were unvaccinated. The highest incidence was in infants below one year of age and 7% of cases occurred among healthcare workers. Three deaths occurred and two cases of encephalitis were reported. Wide immunity gaps and nosocomial transmission are major challenges to measles elimination in Italy.

Keywords: Italy; air-borne infections; epidemiology; measles; measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine; surveillance; viral infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reported measles cases by month of rash onset, Italy, January 2013−August 2017 (n=9,559)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Incidence per 1,000,000 population of reported measles cases by Region, Italy, January−August 2017
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe). Fifth Meeting of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) 24-26 October 2016, Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen: WHO/Europe; [Accessed 31 Aug 2017]. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/330917/5th-RVC-meeti...
    1. European Commission. Commission Implementing Decision of 8 August 2012 amending Decision 2002/253/EC laying down case definitions for reporting communicable diseases to the Community network under Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. L262 Sep 27, 2012. Available from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AL%3A2012%3A262%3...
    1. Italian Ministry of Health (MoH). Situazione epidemiologica del morbillo – Indicazioni operative per la gestione dell’epidemia in atto. [Circular N. 10740 of 4 April 2017. Recommendations for control of the ongoing measles outbreak]. Rome: MoH; [Accessed 31 Aug 2017]. Italian. Available from: http://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/renderNormsanPdf?anno=2017&cod...
    1. Italian Ministry of Health (MoH). Morbillo. Chiarimenti sulla somministrazione di immunoglobuline e sulla prima dose di MPR in particolari condizioni. [Circular N. 19361 of 23 June 2017. Measles: Clarifications regarding the administration of immunoglobulins and the first MMR dose in specific situations]. Rome: MoH; [Accessed 31 Aug 2017]. Italian. Available from: http://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/renderNormsanPdf;jsessionid=-C...
    1. Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS). EpiCentro portal. Morbillo in Italia: Bollettino settimanale. [Measles in Italy: weekly bulletin]. Rome: ISS; 5 Sep 2017. Italian. Available from: http://www.epicentro.iss.it/problemi/morbillo/Infografica2017.asp

MeSH terms

Substances