17-year-old girl has died of "neurological complications"

A 17-year-old girl died "from neurological complications" related to measles at the CHU Bordeaux, announced the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of New Aquitaine this Friday . His disappearance follows that of a young man of 26 at the end of June and a young mother of 32 in Poitiers in February. The first was immunocompromised, so unable to receive the measles vaccine because of the weakness of his immune system, the second had never been vaccinated.

"After having decreased between 2012 and 2016, the number of measles cases has increased significantly since November 2017, Public Health Alert France in its bulletin of June 27. This situation is the result of insufficient vaccination coverage among patients. infants (79% with two doses of vaccine instead of the 95% needed), children and young adults ". Specifically, 2567 cases of measles have been diagnosed since November. The most affected departments are the Gironde (24% of them), Vienna (8%) and the Gard (6%).

" The very clear An increase in the number of cases since November 2017 in New Aquitaine continues in 2018, with the occurrence of several epidemic outbreaks in this region as well as in other French regions ". 22 % of reported cases were hospitalized and 88% of cases of measles occurred in persons who were not or inadequately vaccinated.

Still too few vaccinations

Traditionally, the vaccination schedule consisted of one dose of MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) at 12 months and a second between 16 and 18 months. For people who have never been vaccinated against measles, catch-up is possible. It consists of injecting two doses of vaccine at least one month apart. In the event of an epidemic, it is possible to receive the vaccine up to 72 hours after having been in contact with a person suffering from measles to avoid the occurrence of the disease.

Public Health France recalls "the need for very high immunization coverage in the population (at least 95% with two doses of vaccine in children and young adults) Such collective protection would eliminate the disease and its complications and thus also protect the most fragile people. may be vaccinated themselves (infants under one year of age, pregnant women, immunocompromised persons) ". Since 1 er January 2018, vaccination against measles is one of the 11 compulsory infant vaccines.

Measles is not an infantile disease

Measles is an infectious disease caused by a highly contagious virus that previously mainly affected young children from 5-6 months of age. This is no longer the case: one-third of reported cases involve people over 15 years of age. A sick person can contaminate up to 20. Measles is 10 times more contagious than flu. It is transmitted very easily from one person to another by air, during coughing, sneezing, or by contact with contaminated objects (toys, handkerchiefs …).

Often mistakenly considered as benign, "measles is not only a disease of childhood, it also concerns adolescents and young adults and can lead to serious complications (pneumonia, encephalitis …) and sometimes hospitalizations ", or even death, explained recently the Regional Agency of Health of Occitanie.