Abstract
Objective To study clinical aspects of the 1999 outbreak
of measles.
Design A prospective study of suspected cases of
measles admitted to 2 paediatric units from October
1999 to January 2000.
Setting Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children,
Colombo.
Method From each suspected case of measles blood
was sent to the Medical Research Institute to detect
lgM antibodies. The age, sex, clinical features,
vaccination status, complications, treatment and
duration in hospital was noted in each child. Chest xrays
were taken when there was clinical evidence of
pneumonia.
Results 157 children suspected of measles were
admitted to the 2 paediatric units during the study
period. 7 (4.5%) were under 6 months of age, 37
(23.5%) were 6-9 months of age, 10 (6.4%) were 10-
12 months of age, 34 (21.6%) were 13-60 months of
age, 48 (30.6%) were 61-108 months of age and 21
(13.4%) were 109-144 months of age. 52 (33%)
children received no prior measles vaccination. Of
these, 7 (13.5%) were under 6 months of age, 37
(71.2%) were 6-9 months of age, 2 (3.8%) were 10-
12 months of age, 4 (7.7%) were 13-60 months of
age, l (l.9%) was 61-108 months of age and l (l.9%)
was 109-144 months of age. 2 children developed
bronchopneumonia. There were no other
complications. IgM antibodies were present in 148
patients.
Conclusions 1. 94% clinically suspected measles
patients had positive measles serology. Thus
serological confirmation of measles is probably a
waste of scarce resources. 2. 28% children who
developed measles were under 10 months of age and
23.6% were in the 6-9 month age group. There is a
case for bringing forward the recommended age for
measles immunisation to 6 months.
Sri Lanka Joumal of Child Health, 2000; 29: 112-3
(Key words: Measles, children)
doi: 10.4038/sljch.v29i4.749
Published on
14 Jul 2009.
Peer Reviewed