Background: Despite the launch of the national plan for measles elimination, in Iraq, immunization coverage remains suboptimal and outbreaks continue to occur.
Objectives: To study the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of measles adolescents and adult patients admitted to Medical Merjan City Babylon, Iraq.
Patients and Methods: This is a cross sectional study carried out during the last epidemic that took place in Babylon during the year2008- 2009. The study included all patients aged 11 years and above from the first of May 2008, through the end of April, 2009, interviewing of patients were carried out by trained medical staff using a structured questionnaire to collect demographic and clinical data about the cases . Diagnosis was done according to WHO criteria.
Results: This study reveals that the overall incidence rate of measles was (59per100000 persons) and the highest incidence (71/100000 persons) was among dwellers in Al-Hilla city (urban area). Most of the cases occurred in winter and spring seasons. The highest proportion of cases was in the age group 21-25 years of age (31.8%). Male to female ratio was 1.1: 1. The most common signs and symptoms among the studied patients were rash, fever and cough which constituted100%, 99, 94%, respectively. Pneumonia and diarrhea were the main complications, 2 pregnant females died with a case fatality rate during pregnancy (1.5%). Among 130 pregnant women three abortions (2.3%) and five women delivered prematurely (3.8%).
Conclusions: These cases underline the potential severity of this infection and the difficulty to diagnose measles at the early phase the successful elimination of measles in our country will require additional efforts to immunize low vaccine coverage population groups, including hard-to-reach individuals, adolescents, and young adults and an enhanced surveillance system.