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J Prev Med Hyg. 2018 Mar 30;59(1):E8-E13. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2018.59.1.853. eCollection 2018 Mar.
Measles outbreak from February to August 2017 in Messina Italy.
Palamara MA1 Visalli G1 Picerno I1 DI Pietro A1 Puglisi G2 Marano F2 DAndrea G2 FACCIOLà A1.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
Measles continues to be a major public health issue worldwide with high morbidity and mortality rates. The disease remains endemic in 14 European countries including Italy where from 2013 to 2016 over 5000 cases have been reported. In 2017 many Italian regions including Sicily have reported many cases of measles. In this study we described the latest measles outbreak in the city of Messina from 1st February to 31st August 2017.
METHODS:
We considered all reported measles cases that came to the "Public Health Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine" Operative Unit of the Messina Provincial Health Agency Prevention Department which receives all reported cases of measles in the Messina province.
RESULTS:
From 1st February to 31st August 2017 a total of 59 measles cases were reported of which 44 were confirmed nine were classified as possible four were probable and two cases were discarded. Of the 57 possible probable and confirmed cases 31 (54%) were males and 26 (46%) were females. Moreover 54 (95%) had not been previously vaccinated while the remaining cases had documented evidence of one (two cases) or two doses (one case). Genotype B3 was identified in 39/44 cases (886%) by the regional reference laboratory in Palermo.
CONCLUSIONS:
Despite the development of an effective vaccination unfortunately measles continues to threaten the lives of millions of children worldwide each year. The suboptimal immunization level in Italy has led to an increase in the transmission of measles with detrimental effects on both public health and ongoing measles elimination efforts.
KEYWORDS:
Measles; Outbreak; Vaccination coverage
PMID: 29938234 PMCID: PMC6009069 DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2018.59.1.853