The article reviewed measles outbreaks in Poland during 2008-2009, highlighting that although Poland had made progress toward measles elimination, the virus continued to circulate, especially among vulnerable groups like the Roma community. Most cases were linked to outbreaks, with a significant proportion resulting from importation of the virus from the United Kingdom. Outbreaks in Roma communities were larger and involved mostly unvaccinated individuals, while those in the non-Roma population were smaller and often involved people who were incompletely vaccinated. Despite high national vaccination coverage, pockets of unvaccinated people sustained transmission, indicating challenges in reaching certain groups. The study concluded that further efforts were needed to integrate vulnerable populations into the healthcare system and to develop innovative strategies to ensure everyone is protected against measles.
This article originated from the investigation of a measles outbreak in a Roma community, combined with two years of experience in genotyping measles strains from Polish patients sent to the WHO Reference Laboratory in Berlin. In this context, we decided to summarize national surveillance data on measles outbreaks. The article was published during European Immunization Week in 2010, accompanied by an editorial in a special Eurosurveillance issue entitled “Spotlight on measles 2010”, alongside two other articles from our team. Notably, this was also the first of my publications to be featured in ProMED‑mail, a well‑known global platform for reporting emerging infectious disease events 🙂.