Key Points

• Between January 1 and December 31, 2019, 2,636 cases of measles were reported (compared to 2,919 cases in 2018), representing a case rate of 3.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with the highest rate observed among children under 1 year of age: 42.7 cases per 100,000.

• 752 cases were hospitalized (28.5%), including 31 in intensive care (1.2%).

• 184 cases (7%) had pneumonia (including 152 hospitalized), and two cases developed complications of encephalitis (including 1 death).

• Two deaths occurred in the context of subacute inclusion encephalitis; these were two immunocompromised young adults (Note: the first death involved a case in which the onset of symptoms and the development of encephalitis dated back to the fall of 2018).

• 86 to 88% of measles cases occurred in unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated individuals.

• Circulation of the virus was observed across nearly the entire country (92 departments affected), with epidemic outbreaks primarily in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Pays de la Loire, PACA, and Grand Est. This year also saw the resumption of active measles circulation in the Indian Ocean (Réunion and Mayotte).

• France is the European country that reported the most measles cases to the ECDC in 2019, followed by: Romania (1,706 cases), Italy (1,626 cases), Poland (1,423 cases), and Bulgaria (1,235 cases). In terms of incidence, with a reported rate of 39.4 cases per million inhabitants, it ranks 9th after: Lithuania (296.9), Bulgaria (175.2), Romania (87.3), Malta (67.3), Slovakia (58.6), the Czech Republic (55.6), Belgium (43.9), and Luxembourg (41.5).