2023-09-09 21:10:00
In Romania, since December 2022, measles activity has intensified, with ongoing outbreaks in 17 of the nation’s 41 counties. The primary case could not be identified and the first confirmed cases had no foreign travel history. From October 2022 to the end of July 2023, 460 of 580 possible cases of measles have been confirmed. The median age of confirmed cases was 4 years (range: 42 days-48 years), 237 (51.5%) were female and 223 (48.5%) were male. Of the 460 confirmed measles cases, 362 (78%) involved unvaccinated people, 51 were too young to be eligible for vaccination, 15 had incomplete vaccination (one dose of MMR), and for the remaining 32, this information was not available. No measles-related deaths have been reported to date.
The epidemic is due to the D8 genotype. Molecular epidemiology suggests that there are different transmission chains, indicating active transmission of measles in the country.
According to data provided by the National Center for Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases, vaccination coverage with the first dose of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) in Romania was 62% in 2022 and increased to 78% in 2023 for children born in 2021 [15]. One of the reasons for the low vaccination coverage in Romania could be the choice of parents not to vaccinate their children. Another explanation for low vaccination rates during the COVID 19 pandemic could be decreased access to general practitioners following movement restrictions and the concentration of health system human resources in managing the pandemic
This outbreak follows a two-year period during which no cases of indigenous measles were recorded in the country. The low number of measles cases reported during this period in Romania could be the effect of restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source : Eurosurveillance
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