Since 2023, an upsurge in measles epidemics has been observed worldwide after several years of drop in vaccination coverage against measles, mumps and rubella (Ror), noted after the Cavid-19 pandemic. She accentuated in France last year, with a number of cases and an incidence multiplied by four.
Four times more cases than in 2023
“”Among the suspect cases of measles occurred between January 1 and December 31, 2024, 483 cases of measles, 84 imported, were declared throughout France“, According to the annual assessment. If 62 metropolitan departments have identified at least one case, no case has been reported overseas.
The number of cases remains however “Still limited compared to the average of years prior to the COVVI-19 pandemic (average of 2,024 cases each year on 2017-2019)“, Public health note France.
The disease has led to hospitalizations for almost a third of cases (144), especially children under the age of five and adults over 30. It was associated with a complication, mainly pneumonia type, for 66 people, often over 30 years old. No death has been reported.
The 2024 assessment points in particular “Population pockets still receptive to measles virus, especially in adolescents and young adults as well as in return travelers in endemicity zones“, Public health note France.
Measles is progressing in crèches, schools and family homes
A “significant share of cases of cases” are “occurring in crèche in infants whose infection by the measles virus can have serious consequences, including long -term“.
Out of 68 grouped cases identified, there were six epidemic foci of at least 5 cases, affecting schools, family circles, certain populations (Roma camps) but above all several nurseries.
The most important episode concerned the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (53 cases reported between January and April 2024).
A lack of vaccination at the heart of the resumption of the epidemic
Among the 300 cases eligible for vaccination (aged at least one year and born since 1980) and the vaccination status filled, almost two thirds (64%) were not vaccinated against measles, 15% were with a dose, 18% with two and 3% with a number of unknown doses, details the report.
And almost a third of the cases declared in 2024 (157) were either imported or linked to an import, “confirming the resumption of the circulation of measles in the world and the risk of re -emergence in francsE “, underlines the agency.
The imported cases have leapped in particular (84 against 31 in 2023), and more than half were not vaccinated.