The cases of measles recorded in the European Union in the last month monitored, June 2024, dropped slightly, reaching just under 2,000. However, looking at the last year, the trend of reported infections confirms the intense circulation of the virus in the area: in fact, there are over 17 thousand (17,273) cases in total. And Italy, behind Romania’s record balance, is the second EU country in terms of number of infections recorded in 12 monthsfrom 1 July 2023 to June of this year: in this period there were 753, while in Romania the annual figure is 13,879 cases. Behind Italy are Austria with 514 cases of measles recorded, Belgium with 493 and France with 436 infections. This is the picture that emerges from the latest monthly report on measles and rubella published online by the ECDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
What the report says
Even in June, Italy is still among the countries with the most cases in the EU/European Economic Area. In this month, the report states, 27 countries have communicated data on the progress of the disease, and the 1,891 cases recorded were reported by 16 of these countries, while 11 have reported zero cases. The decrease observed in June, specifies the ECDC, could however also be due to delays in reporting. The highest counts are those of Romania (1,282), followed by Belgium (201) and Italy (150), followed by Spain (69).
Of the more than 17,000 cases reported in the last 12 months by 30 EU/EEA states, 13,308 (77%) were laboratory confirmed. There were 13 deaths in total in one year: 12 in Romania and 1 in Ireland. During this period only 3 countries (Latvia, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein) remained with zero infections. Romania accounts for more than 80% of the reports, Italy for 4.4% of the total. Notification rates above the EU/EEA average of 38 cases per million inhabitants were reported by Romania (728.4), Austria (56.5) and Belgium (42.0). The identikit of patients in the last 12 months shows that 45.3% (7,831) are children under 5, 26.7% (4,613) are over 15.
As for the vaccination status of those infected, out of 15,113 cases in which this data is known, 87.2% (13,184) were not vaccinated, while 8.1% (1,223) were vaccinated with one dose and 4.4% (662) with 2 doses or more, finally 25 (0.2%) were vaccinated with an unknown number of doses. “Measles vaccination coverage in many countries remains suboptimal – notes the ECDC – A coverage of at least 95% for 2 doses is recommended. However, the latest WHO-UNICEF estimates on national coverage (2023 report) show that only 3 EU/EEA countries, namely Hungary, Malta and Portugal, reported a vaccination coverage of at least 95% for both the first and second injections in 2022. If the goal of eliminating” the disease is to be achieved, “many countries need to make improvements” on routine immunization programs for children, “and fill immunity gaps in adolescents and adults who have missed vaccination opportunities in the past”.
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