Eurosurveillance
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Observational Study
Spatiotemporal distribution and determinants of measles incidence during a large outbreak, Italy, September 2016 to July 2018.
BackgroundMeasles is still endemic in Italy and outbreaks are frequent. From 2016 to 2018, more than 7,000 measles cases were reported to the national integrated measles and rubella surveillance system, the largest outbreak since implementation of this system. AimWe aimed to describe the characteristics and spatiotemporal distribution of measles cases in Italy and explore determinants of incidence at municipality level. ⋯ In 2017, only one region reported VC above 95% for the first dose. At municipality level, incidence was associated with higher urbanisation, less deprivation and fewer adults. ConclusionThe spread of measles between September 2016 and July 2018 in Italy indicates the need to improve VC and to explore further how societal and other parameters might be linked to incidence.