Abstract
Measles is a highly contagious acute febrile eruptive disease. It can be prevented through vaccination. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic features of measles cases hospitalized at Point "G" University Teaching Hospital. It was a retrospective study to review the medical files of patients hospitalized for measles between January 2010 and May 2011 at the Infectious Diseases Department of the Point "G" University Teaching Hospital. During the study period, 31 patients (6.4%) were treated for measles, and the majority of cases were seen in April months (20 cases) and May months (5 cases). The most affected age group was 9 - 59 months (58.1%) with a sex ratio of 1.38. The majority of patients (64.5%) consulted at least two health facilities before their hospitalization in Point “G” with an average of 5.3 ± 3.6 days from unset to the hospitalization. Measles immunization was not effective in 16 out of 26 patients and nearly one-third (29.0%) had familial contact measles case. Febrile rash, present in all patients, was associated with cough (96.8%), rhinitis (77.4%) and/or conjunctivitis (77.4%). Pneumonia was the most common complication (83.9%) followed by comorbidities such as gastroenteritis (29%), malnutrition (9.7%) and oral candidiasis (9.7%). Amoxicillin and ceftriaxone were the antibiotics frequently used against complications. Patients were hospitalized for an average of 6.9 ± 4.2 days, and no death was recorded. This study revealed that pneumonia was the main complication leading to hospitalization of patients. For a better control of measles, we need to fully respect the immunization schedule which is a guarantee for vaccine efficacy.
Highlights
Measles is a highly contagious acute febrile eruptive disease
After the first mass vaccination campaign in 1998, measles incidence decreased by 95% in urban districts receiving immunization, but this probably did not affect the overall transmission of measles in Mali [7]
The majority of patients come from Bamako (93.5%) and were referred from the pediatric department of Gabriel Touré University Teaching Hospital (96.8%)
Summary
Measles is a highly contagious acute febrile eruptive disease. Incidence and mortality have decreased significantly in recent years through routine immunization programs and mass vaccination campaigns [1, 2]. Vaccination prevented 20.4 million deaths between 2000 and 2016 [3] Notwithstanding these enormous advances, measles still poses a public health problem. It remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality responsible for more than 100,000 deaths per year [1, 4]. After the first mass vaccination campaign in 1998, measles incidence decreased by 95% in urban districts receiving immunization, but this probably did not affect the overall transmission of measles in Mali [7]. In February 2011, the coverage rate of measles vaccine among children aged 9 - 59 months in Bamako was estimated at 91.3% according to Ministry of Health Despite this good coverage, there is measles outbreaks every year. Patients are taken to different health facilities in the country and complicated cases are referred to tertiary hospitals
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