Measles: cases on the rise in Italy due to the decline in vaccinations. In Lazio the highest incidence in three months

From 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 they were notified in Italy 213 cases of measlesincluding 34 cases in January, 93 in February and 86 in March 2024.
88% of infections involved people not vaccinated.

The numbers

The increase is sustained compared to 2023 and has intensified in the last few months, the winter ones (see graph below).
The national incidence in the period was 14.5 cases per million inhabitants. Three Regions (Lazio, Sicily and Tuscany) reported a total of 68% of the total cases and the highest incidence was observed in Lazio (44.9/million).
The highest incidence was observed in age range 0-4 years (63.3 cases per million), followed by the 15-39 age group (28.3 cases per million).
Fifty-six cases (26.3%) of the total reported at least one complication. The transmission occurred mainly within the family.

Restore adherence to vaccination objectives

These are the data from the national epidemiological surveillance of measles and rubella coordinated by the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS).
«As happened in other European countries, in Italy too we are recording an increase in measles cases resulting from the reduced vaccination rate recorded in the last year”, Massimo Andreoni, scientific director of Simit, the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, told Adnkronos. For Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the State University of Milan, there is «the need to promote campaigns to restore vaccination protection. Proactive commitment is needed by the Prevention Departments”. «An epidemic has started – says Matteo Bassetti, head of infectious diseases at the San Martino polyclinic in Genoa -. The worst is to come and I fear it will at the turn of summer. It strikes me that no one worries about complications: it is not a calm and manageable disease.”

Italy below the threshold

In Italy, vaccination against measles is mandatory and free for minors up to 16 years of age. The first dose is administered in the second year of life and the booster at 5-6 years. Vaccination coverage recommended is 95%which is the World Health Organization (WHO) minimum target to achieve measles eradication.
In Italy there was a decline in vaccinations during and after Covid (2020-2021) when the coverage of the first and second doses reached respectively 92% and 86% (according to Annual report on measles compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control).
In Europe there are very virtuous countries and others not so much: the average vaccination coverage for 2021 was 92.9% for the first dose and 89.4% for the second.

A disease not to be underestimated

Measles is caused by one of the most contagious viruses known, with a basic reproduction number between 12 and 18, essentially 90% of susceptible people exposed to an infected person contract the disease. You are contagious from 5 days after contact with the virus, to about a week after the spots disappear. Contagion occurs through the air, through respiratory droplets that spread in the air when the patient coughs or sneezes, or by touching objects contaminated by volatile droplets.
Measles can have complications, more or less serious, in approximately 30% of cases. The main ones are: encephalitis, otitis, pneumonia, convulsions, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.