Italian children have been told not to show up to school unless they have been properly vaccinated

A hard stance.

Italian children have been told not to turn up to school unless they can prove that they have been properly vaccinated.

This stance follows months of debate over compulsory vaccination, both in Italy and across the world. According to BBC, the new law came amid a surge in measles cases - but Italian officials say vaccination rates have improved since it was introduced. Under the new law, children must now receive a range of mandatory vaccinations before attending school. Health Minister Giulia Grillo said the rules were now simple: "No vaccine, no school". These include vaccinations for chickenpox, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. Children up to the age of six years will be excluded from nursery and kindergarten without proof of vaccination under the new rules. Those aged between six and 16 cannot be banned from attending school, but their parents face fines if they do not complete the mandatory course of immunisations. This conversation was escalated recently when an unvaccinated French child on holiday in Costa Rica was found to be responsible for measles returning to the country for the first time in five years. Under a month ago, Trinity College Dublin issued a warning about a mumps outbreak, where students were urged to check that they have had two MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccines.