Abstract
In 2006 and 2008 two different outbreaks of measles, both occurring during winter seasons, were reported in the region of Apulia in south-eastern Italy. The second of these epidemics involved both young adults and children younger than 13 mo, the latter being the age range established by the Regional Vaccination Schedule for the first dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine 1, 2) . The present epidemiological pattern of measles in Apulia reflects the vaccination efforts conducted in Italy from 2003, when the implementation of the National Elimination Plan for Measles and Congenital Rubella started up. The Plan engaged all Italian Regions in an extra-ordinary effort to reach target coverage of 95% in children at 24 mo of age, to introduce a second MMR dose at 5‐6 yr of age (target: 90% coverage by 2007), and to carry out a catch-up vaccination program making use of all the occasions of contact children had with the vaccination services, including a campaign aimed at inviting all children of school age in primary and lower secondary schools (up to 8th grade) who had not yet received the two recommended MMR vaccine doses 3) . Measles is usually a mild non-life-threatening disease in otherwise healthy children, but it may be severe with complications in infants, adults and people with impaired immune systems. Since the target MMR coverage for the WHO European Region (>95% for both doses) has not yet been reached, there is still the risk of outbreaks in susceptible adult subjects, and this includes health care workers. In Italy the current trends for measles in fact show an increase in the average age of infection. The vaccination of susceptible healthcare personnel against measles is recommended because it protects both the employee from complications and the patient from infection. In March, in an Apulian hospital, a case of measles was reported in a nurse, who worked in the Paediatric Unit where a child infected by measles had been hospitalized. Case Report
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