Analysis on the imported measles cases in Beijing, 2014

Abstract

To analyze the imported measles cases who came to Beijing seeking for better medical services and to explore the feasible strategies for prevention and control of the situation. Descriptive analysis was conducted for all the measles cases noted from the Measles Surveillance System, between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. 3 328 measles cases were reported in Beijing, including 2 397 (2 397/3 328, 72.0%) native residents and 931 (931/3 328, 28.0%) came from other provinces. Peak of the imported cases appeared earlier than those native cases, with 934 cases (934/2 397, 39.0%) having had hospital exposure 7-21 days prior to the onset of the disease. Majority of the imported were children, including 718 of them (718/931, 77.1%) under the age of 15. Most cases were reported from 3 infectious disease hospitals (567/1 156 person-time, 49.0%) and 2 children's hospitals (445/1 156 person-time, 38.5%). Original addresses of the imported cases distributed in 24 provinces, with 705 of them (705/931, 75.7%) coming from Beijing's neighboring province (Hebei). Clinic symptoms with epidemiological information were analyzed on 712 cases. 704 cases (704/712, 98.9%) presented rash at home town while another 621 cases (621/712, 87.2%) developed rash 4 days after arriving in Beijing and were still in the infectious period. There was a big amount of imported measles cases in Beijing that called for the elimination of the disease in a urgent phase. It is necessary to timely develop and conduct targeted prevention and control measures on the disease in Beijing.