Measles infection in hospitalized children in Lusaka, Zambia.
A 2-year hospital-based survey of measles infections were carried out at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia from January 1992 to December 1993. During this period, a total of 1066 children with a clinical diagnosis of measles were admitted to the paediatric isolation ward at UTH. Measles cases were seen throughout both 1992 and 1993. However, there was a peak from September to December, 1992. The number of cases decreased with age, and 370 (34.7%) were under 1 year old. It is noteworthy that 203 (19.0%) were less than the 9 months of age which is the recommended time for measles vaccination in Zambia. The overall case fatality rate was 12.6%, and was higher in children aged 0-3 years (14.3%) than in those aged 4 years and above (6.7%). Measles vaccination status could be checked from the child's immunization card for 343 measles cases over 9 months of age, 118 (34.4%) of these having previously received measles vaccine. Vaccinated children had a significantly lower case fatality rate (6.4%) than the unvaccinated group (17.0%). This suggests that while measles vaccine cannot prevent infection, it can reduce the severity of infection.
Oshitani
H
H
Virology Laboratory, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
Mpabalwani
M
M
Kasolo
F
F
Mizuta
K
K
Luo
N P
NP
Bhat
G J
GJ
Suzuki
H
H
Numazaki
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014611:Vaccination; D015024:Zambia / Q000453:epidemiology