• Giancarlo Ceccarelli, Serena Vita, Elisabetta Riva, Eleonora Cella, Maurizio Lopalco, Francesca Antonelli, Marina De Cesaris, Marta Fogolari, Giordano Dicuonzo, Massimo Ciccozzi, Silvia Angeletti, and Sanitary Bureau of the Asylum Seekers Center of Castelnuovo di Porto.
• Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Rome Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
• J Travel Med. 2018 Jan 1; 25 (1).

BackgroundDespite a large measles outbreak is taking place in WHO European region, currently no data are available on measles immunization coverage in the asylum seeker and migrants hosted in this area.MethodsTwo hundred and fifty-six migrants upon their arrival in Italy on March, April and May 2016 were screened for measles virus IgG antibodies by chemiluminescence immunoassay (Liaison XL analyzer, Diasorin, Italy). The virus susceptibility in this cohort, the differences between the official country reported and the observed measles immunization coverage and the impact of current measles outbreak on the asylum seekers hosted in the largest Asylum Seeker centres of Italy, were evaluated.ResultsThe prevalence of subjects with positive result for measles IgG antibodies ranged between 79.9% and 100%. In Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the measles IgG seroprevalence observed was greater than the vaccinal coverage reported by WHO after I dose of vaccine. Based on data regarding the II dose coverage, the ASs population presented a seroprevalence greater to that expected.ConclusionOn the basis of the results obtained, extraordinary screening and vaccination campaigns in the migrant population, especially in the course of large outbreaks, could represent a resource to reach an adequate measles immunization coverage and to control this infectious disease.© International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

31 keywords...

hide…