The epidemiological characteristics of measles among children admitted to Tikrit teaching hospital in 2008

Abstract

Measles is an acute infectious disease that can affect persons of all ages but is most severe in young infants and adults. Person to person transmission occurs through direct contact or droplet spread, and there is some evidence that severity is related to infective dose, so that those who acquire the disease from close household contacts have the most severe diseases(1). Infected person can infect others during the prodromal period before the characteristics rash appears(2). Measles is highly infectious disease exactly from the beginning of prodromal phase until 4 days after the appearance of rash. Complications are common that include otitis media, pneumonia, croup, or diarrhea. Encephalitis has been reported that complicated by death or permanent neurological damage. Other complications of measles include bronchiolitis, sinusitis, myocarditis, corneal ulceration, mesenteric adenitis, hepatitis and thrombocytopaenic purpura(3). The aim of this study is conducted to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of measles among children in Tikrit teaching hospital in the first half of 2008. The current work is representing a cross sectional study, which was conducted from the period extended from first of February to the end of July 2008. In this study, the diagnosis of measles is based on clinical manifestations that appeared in children who admitted to pediatric department in Tikrit teaching hospital. Among (160) cases infected with measles there were high percentage of measles infection (46.2%) among children below 2 years. The study also showed that rural area had higher distribution of measles infection than urban, and (57.5%) of males infected with measles. (73.8%) of unvaccinated children had measles infection. The present study conclude that the epidemiological characteristics of measles as age that it was higher at first 2 years of children age especially at 8 months of age. Also we conclude that vaccination play an important role in prevention of measles infection there were high percentage of infected children did not receive vaccination mostly because their parents not satisfied with vaccination