{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T04:37:47Z","timestamp":1792643867913,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,20]],"date-time":"2024-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718841600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The elimination of both measles and rubella remains a priority for all 53 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. To provide an update on the epidemiological status of measles and rubella in the Region, we reviewed surveillance data on both diseases for 2023 submitted monthly by national surveillance institutions. We analyzed the cases of measles and rubella for 2023 by age group, case classification, vaccination, hospitalization, and importation status and report on measles-related deaths. In 2023, 60,860 measles cases, including 13 fatal cases, were reported in 41 countries. Most cases (95%; n = 57,584) were reported by six countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, the Russian Federation, and T\u00fcrkiye. Of the 60,848 cases with data on age, 19,137 (31%) were 1\u20134 years old and 12,838 (21%) were 5\u20139 years old. A total of 10,412 (17%) were 20 years and older. The genotypes identified in the Region were largely dominated by D8 variants (n = 1357) and the remainder were B3 variants (n = 221). In 2023, 345 rubella cases were reported by 17 countries, mostly from Poland, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, T\u00fcrkiye, and Ukraine. A total of 262 cases (76%) were classified as clinically compatible and 79 (23%) were laboratory-confirmed. To achieve the elimination of measles and rubella in the Region, political commitment needs to be revived to enable urgent efforts to increase vaccination coverage, improve surveillance and outbreak preparedness, and respond immediately to outbreaks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines12060696","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,21]],"date-time":"2024-06-21T05:33:28Z","timestamp":1718948008000},"page":"696","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Progress and Challenges in Measles and Rubella Elimination in the WHO European Region"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0468-7618","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mark","family":"Muscat","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Myriam","family":"Ben Mamou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Catharina","family":"Reynen-de Kat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dragan","family":"Jankovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1837-6319","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Hagan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simarjit","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siddhartha Sankar","family":"Datta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2024, April 09). 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