Measles in France from January 1 to April 13, 2025

Published on 29 April 2025

Key Points

From January 1 to April 13, 2025, 427 cases of measles were reported to the Regional Health Agencies (ARS), a total approaching the number of cases (483) reported in 2024. The four age groups most affected, accounting for nearly half of the cases, are children aged 1–4 (17%), adolescents aged 15–19 (10%), adults aged 30–39 (11%), and adults over 40 (14%). The highest case notification rate is observed among infants under one year of age (6.6 cases per 100,000).
For 143 (33.5%) cases, a visit to the emergency department or hospitalization was reported (including 9 in intensive care), and for 58 (13.6%) cases, a complication was reported (including 36 cases of pneumonia and 1 case of encephalitis). One death was reported in an immunocompromised adult patient. Hospitalizations and complications primarily affected infants and young children, but also young adults.
Among the individuals targeted for vaccination (aged over one year and born since 1980), for whom vaccination status was known (n=304), 208 (68.4%) cases occurred in individuals who were unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated.
Sixty departments in mainland France reported at least one case, representing more than half (59.4%) of all departments. No cases were reported in the overseas territories. More than half of the reported cases were concentrated in 9 departments: Nord (76 cases), Isère (30 cases), Haute-Savoie (23 cases), Bouches-du-Rhône (20 cases), Val-d’Oise (19 cases), Hérault (17 cases), Paris (15 cases), Alpes-Maritimes (13 cases), and Pas-de-Calais (12 cases).
During this period, 56 clusters (groups of epidemiologically linked cases) were reported to the Regional Health Agencies (ARS), totaling 245 cases. Among these, 14 clusters comprised 5 or more cases.
Of the 427 reported cases, 65 (15%) were imported cases (defined as a stay abroad during the 7 to 18 days preceding the rash).
Prompt reporting of cases to the ARS and the submission of biological samples to the National Measles Reference Center (CNR) are essential for the early identification of clusters and for implementing prevention and post-exposure prophylaxis measures around cases, particularly within communities.