title: Laboratory diagnosis of acute measles infections in hospitalized children in Zambia.
abstract: Laboratory diagnosis of measles infection is rarely performed in developing countries and tends to depend on clinical symptoms alone. We evaluated detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies for confirmation of acute measles infection in Zambia. In 149 hospitalized children with clinical diagnosis of measles, IgM antibodies were detected in 88.6% (132/149). The IgM-positive rate increased with time after onset of skin rash and all samples were positive after 4 days. In addition to IgM antibody test, virus isolations from throat swabs using B95a cells were also performed. These were positive in only 20.9% (14/67), and both IgM and virus isolation in combination increased the positive rate to 92.5% (62/67). Vaccinated children had higher neutralizing (Nt) antibody responses and, among IgM-negative patients, all 4 vaccinated children had high Nt antibodies while all 10 unvaccinated children had negative or low Nt results. The IgM antibody test was proved to be a sensitive method for laboratory confirmation of measles virus infection in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Virus Research Centre, National Sendai Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oshitani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mpabalwani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuta
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Kasolo
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Numazaki
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000276:immunology; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010614:Pharynx / Q000821:virology; D015024:Zambia
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D008458:Measles Vaccine