Τίτλος:
Ongoing measles outbreak in Greece related to the recent European-wide
epidemic
Γλώσσες Τεκμηρίου:
Αγγλικά
Περίληψη:
We report an ongoing measles outbreak in Greece. The first cases were
notified through the mandatory notification system on May 2017 in
Northern Greece and concerned a cluster of three imported cases in
unvaccinated Roma siblings. So far, 3150 cases have been reported in all
13 Regions. Initially, the outbreak mainly affected Greek Roma but as it
progressed it spread to non-minority Greek nationals. The outbreak
reached its ultimate peak on week 10/2018 but from week 15/2018 has been
gradually declining. Most cases (60.6%) were Roma (especially children
<10 year-old) followed by non-minority Greek nationals (29.3%; mostly
young adults). The majority (80.4%) were unvaccinated. Interestingly,
129 (4.1%) cases were healthcare workers (HCWs). Genotype B3 was
identified by molecular methods in all 87 cases tested. Overall, 61.3%
of the cases were hospitalised. Complications were reported in 17.1% of
the cases among which four deaths. The outbreak occurred after 3 years
without local endemic measles transmission. Extensive vaccination
implemented as the major public health measure managed to prevent the
emergence of a large number of cases in refugee/migrant hosting sites.
Mitigation efforts currently focus on raising awareness among HCWs and
closing the immunisation gap in populations with suboptimal vaccination
coverage.
Συγγραφείς:
Georgakopoulou, T.
Horefti, E.
Vernardaki, A.
Pogka, V and
Gkolfinopoulou, K.
Triantafyllou, E.
Tsiodras, S. and
Theodoridou, M.
Mentis, A.
Panagiotopoulos, T.
Περιοδικό:
Epidemiology and Infection
Εκδότης:
Cambridge University Press
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
Epidemiology; Greece; measles; outbreak
DOI:
10.1017/S0950268818002170
