Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of measles in the Astrakhan region in 2013–2019

In the first quarter of 2019, we registered 872 cases of measles in Russia, indicating a tense epidemic situation of this disease. Purpose. To determine clinical and epidemiological features of measles in the Astrakhan region (AR) from January 2013 to April 2019. Material and methods. We analyzed 663 cases of measles confirmed by enzyme immunoassay (293 children + 370 adults) in the AR from January 2013 to April 2019. Results. We found that in the age structure of measles incidence in AO prevail patients aged from 18 to 29 years old, unvaccinated or lacking vaccination information, unvaccinated children of 1-2 years old and children under 1 year old, not subject to measles vaccination. The main reasons for the lack of vaccination in children with measles under 17 years are medical withdrawal; and among adults – insufficient vaccination of people under 35 years and the absence of vaccination in people over 35 years. The main reasons for the incidence of measles among vaccinated children and adults is the violations of vaccination, inaccuracy of official measles vaccination data, which is confirmed by serological monitoring, indicating a decrease in the seropositive individuals among vaccinated persons. The presence of measles foci and the spread of infection can be explained by nosocomial outbreaks, spread of measles in the organized groups as a result of untimely identification and isolation of patients. Measles in children and adults of different age groups, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, occurred typically with a predominance of moderate form. The Filatov – Koplik symptom, despite its detection in only 54% of patients, remains the main sign for the diagnosis of measles in the catarrhal period of the disease, and pigmentation is a sign of the past illness.