“Vaccination recommendations begin at age 1, so before that, infants are dependent on their mothers’ antibodies, and on herd immunity. It’s very important that we have high vaccine coverage to protect them.”
Dr. Robesyn described measles outcomes in children 24 months and younger in 30 member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area from 2013 to 2017. Data were extracted from the European Surveillance System, which collects and analyzes infectious disease data across Europe.
During that period, there were 37,365 measles cases in people of all ages. Most were in Italy, Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, with each reporting more than 5% of the cases. These countries also had the most cases that had not been connected with importation of the disease.
Overall, the patients were a mean of 12 years old. Less than 2% had been fully vaccinated against the disease. Complications (diarrhea, otitis media, pneumonia, or encephalitis) occurred in 13.6%, and about 33% of patients had to be hospitalized. Most cases (81%) occurred in people aged 2 years and older, 9% occurred in children who were 12-24 months old, and 10% occurred in children younger than 12 months. These younger children, however, accounted for 61% of the deaths in the cohort, Dr. Robesyn said.