Abstract
BackgroundAlthough worldwide measles elimination achieved great progress for decades, outbreaks were still reported in certain countries. This study describes the epidemiologic features of a substantial measles outbreak in an office building in Beijing and explores control strategies in a crowded city.MethodsWe performed descriptive analyses of data on demographic characteristic, laboratory testing and epidemiological information.ResultsFrom February 25 to March 28, 2016, 43 outbreak-related measles cases occurred in an office building in Beijing. The total crude attack rate was 1.20% in the building. The age range of patients was 23 to 45 years old, of whom 30 (69.8%) were migrants and 5 (11.6%) were vaccinated but without documentation. The attack rate of the department and the company of the source case was 22.73 and 11.86%, respectively. The attack rate in the building was 1.78%, except for the commercial center on the lower floors, which was 0.34%. Of the 43 measles cases, only 19 cases (53.5%) were reported by hospitals through the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System (NNDRS), and the rest were found through active surveillance. Outbreak response immunization was conducted for 6216 persons.ConclusionsOffice buildings in crowded metropolis are prone to large-scale measles outbreaks, and require a rapid outbreak response. Early Outbreak response immunization and active surveillance are important strategies to control outbreaks such as the one reported herein.
Highlights
Worldwide measles elimination achieved great progress for decades, outbreaks were still reported in certain countries
The present study describes the epidemiologic features of a measles outbreak in an office building, and explores prevention and control strategies for measles among adults in a crowded city
Outbreak setting The measles outbreak occurred in an office building, located in a Beijing business district near a main road at the intersection of two subway lines
Summary
Worldwide measles elimination achieved great progress for decades, outbreaks were still reported in certain countries. China primarily aimed to increased vaccination coverage (to > 95%), combined with strengthening of surveillance systems and infection control. During this period, measles incidence decreased from 99.5 per million persons in 2008 to 4.6 per million in 2012 [1]. In Beijing, supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) have been conducted among migrant preschoolers following annual spring festival period since 2004, and these activities have effectively improved the vaccination coverage among these children [3]. Annual spring measles vaccination of migrant workers has been conducted in Beijing, with the coverage reaching more than three million persons since December 2003.
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