Like other European countries, France recorded a rapid drop in the number of measles cases from April 2020, and gradually the virus stopped circulating. “This situation, which continues during the 1er quarter of 2021, is most likely linked to the measures put in place to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, with the confinement introduced in France between the months of March and May 2020, and the maintenance of these measures (barrier gestures , wearing a mask, distancing, curfew, etc. having an effect on the transmission of other respiratory pathogens” emphasizes Public Health France in its April 1 epidemiological bulletin.
No measles deaths in 2020
Between January 1 and December 31, 2020, 240 cases of measles were declared in France, eleven times less than the previous year (2,636 cases had been declared in 2019). 72 people were hospitalized (30%) including 3 in the intensive care unit (1.3%). 23 cases (9.5%) suffered from pneumopathy (including 19 hospitalized). No cases of encephalitis or deaths were reported.
The circulation of the virus was limited to one third of the whole territory (34 departments), with essentially a few sporadic cases, except for six departments (67, 74, 01, 59, 33, 93), where epidemic foci were observed during the 1st quarter, mainly within Traveler communities.
Nearly 89% of these measles cases occurred in unvaccinated or poorly vaccinated people.
France, 3rd most affected country in Europe. Despite this significant drop in the number of declared cases, France remains one of the European countries where the virus circulates the most. It comes in 3rd position behind Romania (1,004 cases in 2020) and Bulgaria (257 cases) and ahead of Italy (102 cases), Spain (95 cases) and Germany (75 cases).
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