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Abstract

Background

Since January 2016, a resurgence of measles in Romania has led to the third measles epidemic in the past 12 years; 64 deaths have been confirmed so far–the highest number of measles-related deaths since the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced in 2004.

Aim

To provide an overview on the characterisation on measles in Romania after the introduction of the MMR vaccine with focus on the current outbreak, laboratory and molecular analysis.

Methods

We performed an analysis of measles incidence and mortality after the introduction of MMR vaccination and a retrospective study using serological and molecular data in three consecutive outbreaks with focus on the current outbreak.

Results

In the current outbreak, 17,533 measles cases were notified to the national surveillance system, 93% were unvaccinated. Measles virus was isolated from 429 samples and 283 were genotyped. Genotype B3 was predominant (n = 269) and sporadic measles cases associated with D8 genotype (n = 9) were also observed; genotype D4 and D8 were identified in the previous two measles outbreaks. The detection of several distinct measles virus B3 genotypes suggests multiple virus importations to Romania.

Conclusion

The current outbreak is a consequence of insufficient vaccine coverage. Control measures were implemented to improve uptake of MMR vaccine, including administering the first MMR dose at a younger age (9–11 months) and offering catch-up vaccination to children that have not followed the recommended dosing schedule. More measures are needed to improve the surveillance performance and to achieve high routine MMR vaccination coverage.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.29.1900041
2019-07-18
2024-12-26
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.29.1900041
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Characterisation of measles after the introduction of the combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in 2004 with focus on the laboratory data, 2016 to 2019 outbreak, Romania
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Mihaela+Lazar&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lazar Mihaela</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Aurora+St%C4%83nescu&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stănescu Aurora</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ana+Raquel+Penedos&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Penedos Ana Raquel</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Adriana+Pistol&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pistol Adriana</a></span>. Characterisation of measles after the introduction of the combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in 2004 with focus on the laboratory data, 2016 to 2019 outbreak, Romania. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2019;24(29):pii=1900041. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.29.1900041" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.29.1900041</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 10 Jan 2019;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 02 Apr 2019 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.29.1900041
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