Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of measles: analysis of 215 cases

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 215 cases of measles,and to study the epidemical features of the disease.Methods: The clinical data of 215 cases of measles treated in our hospital from Feb.to Jun.2008 were analyzed retrospectively.Results: Among the 215 patients,127 were male and 88 female.The disease often attacked people at two age stages:children from 3 to 12 months(83 cases) and adults from the age of 20 to 39 years(85 cases).One hundred and ninty-seven cases(91.63%) had fever above 39℃;62.20% cases had Koplik spots for 2 to 6 days;163 cases manifested typical rash for 3 to 5 days.The positive rate of measles virus IgM antibody in serum was 97.67%.Conclusions: The measles in this study presents typical epidemic manifestation.The key to controlling the onset of measles is to provide primary vaccination to children less than 1 year of age and emergent inoculation to women of child-bearing age and other adults.