A descriptive profile and the immune status of some hospitalised patients with measles.
The incidence of measles in Singapore has declined with the introduction of measles vaccination in 1976. However, a progressive increase in notified measles cases has occurred since 1990. To characterise the current profile of hospitalised patients with measles, particularly their measles immunity status, we analysed 46 cases over a period of 3 months. The majority (69.6%) were school-going children (aged 5-19 years). Of the 25 patients (54.3%) classified as preventable by immunisation according to the current strategy, 68% were school-age persons. Five previously vaccinated patients had measles enzyme immunoassay immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibodies present. The occurrence of preventable cases among school-age children indicates that the implementation of the current immunisation programme should be improved.
Oh
H M
HM
Department of Infectious Disease, Communicable Disease Centre, Singapore.
Lateef
F
F
Chew
S K
SK
Doraisingham
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination
D008458:Measles Vaccine