The measles booster, he adds, “is indicated for healthcare personnel, for fragile patients, for women planning a pregnancy”, observes the president of Simg, Alessandro Rossi, on the occasion of the European Immunization Week. Adults should also receive a booster shot of the trivalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough every three years. The appeal arises from the growing number of measles cases, which in the last two years in Europe have increased 60 times and which in the last year alone amounted to 5,770, according to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Also in the last year, cases of whooping cough have increased tenfold. Data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità also indicate that in every age group there is an increase in infections and a decrease in vaccinations. Consequently, Simg observes, “these infections can circulate, leaving fragile subjects exposed in a context where community immunity, guaranteed by wide vaccination coverage, does not materialise”. Simg thus joins the appeal of the Italian Society of Paediatrics for the “vaccination of children for all vaccine-preventable diseases” and considers “it is essential that adults adapt with the necessary boosters”.
Those who cannot be vaccinated are at greatest risk, such as children under one year old and fragile immunocompromised individuals. To protect them, it is necessary to interrupt the transmission of measles, with “vaccination coverage of at least 95% of the population”. In Italy, according to the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, from January 1st to March 31st, 213 cases of measles were notified (34 in January, 93 in February, 86 in March), 88% of which were in unvaccinated people; 56 cases (26.3%) reported at least one complication, with 23 cases of pneumonia and one case of encephalitis.
