The Italian Ministero della Salute has reported 324 measles cases since May 14, bringing the country total for 2017 to 2,719, as of May 28. Health officials say data from recent weeks seem to show a downward trend in measles.
89 percent of the cases were unvaccinated, while an additional 6 percent only received a single dose of measles vaccine.
A little more than a third of all cases experienced at least one complication to measles and four out of 10 patients required hospitalization for their illness.
220 cases were among health care workers.
On May 19, the Italian government made childhood vaccines compulsory for the country’s schools. This includes 12 vaccines to common diseases, including measles.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany, which has reported more than 500 measles cases through mid-April, in an effort to get their outbreak under control, decided to require kindergartens to report parents who don’t vaccinate their kids.
In Romania, the case tally for measles is 6,434 confirmed cases since last September, including 27 deaths.
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