Measles: age characteristics of the course

Abstract

Purpose - to analyze the clinical and epidemiological features of measles infection in children during the 2017-2018 outbreak in Zaporizhzhia region to increase the alertness of primary care physicians to measles. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the clinical and epidemiological features of measles infection in 58 children undergoing inpatient treatment in the CNE «Zaporizhzhia Regional Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases» of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council in 2017-2018. Results. 78.5% of children were hospitalised later than the 3rd day of illness. In the catarrhal period, all children had hyperthermia and the presence of Belsky-Filatov-Koplik spots. The rash lasted 5.3±0.5 days. In all patients, the rash was patchy-papular and spread from top to bottom with the appearance of pigmentation from the 5th day of the disease. All children had a typical form of the disease, in 91.4% of cases - moderate, in 8.6% - severe. 91.4% of children had complications. Among the complications, obstructive bronchitis was more common in infants and young children (р˂0.05), while reactive hepatitis was more common in older children (р˂0.05). Conclusions. During the outbreak of measles in Ukraine (in 2017-2018), the course of the disease was typical. Obstructive bronchitis was the most frequent complication in children of early age, reactive hepatitis - in older children. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent of the children’s parents was obtained for the study. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.