Measles and rubella monitoring, May 2013
Measles and rubella are targeted for elimination in Europe by 2015. ECDC closely monitors progress towards interruption of endemic transmission of both diseases through enhanced surveillance and epidemic intelligence. Measles and rubella vaccinations are routinely delivered as trivalent measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in Europe, and the first of the two recommended doses is normally given during the second year of life.
Executive Summary
Fourteen out of the 30 reporting countries to ECDC (29 EU/EEA countries plus Croatia) have met the elimination target of less than one case of measles per million population during the last 12 months
Measles
During the twelve months to March 2013, 8 127 cases of measles were reported to TESSy. The highest notification rate was among infants under one year of age, followed by children aged between one and four years old.
The number of reported cases in March 2013 was about half of that reported for the same month in 2012. Among the 1–4-year-olds, which is the age group targeted by routine childhood vaccination programmes, 78% of the cases were unvaccinated.
Rubella
Nineteen of the 25 reporting countries met the elimination target of less than one case per million population for rubella.
Since August 2012, Poland has reported over 95% of all rubella cases, and a total of 9 631 in the past twelve months, although data for March has yet to be reported to TESSy. The country is experiencing a nationwide rubella epidemic. The highest notification rate in Poland has been among adolescents aged 15–19 years, suggesting that this age group have lower vaccine-induced immunity.
