MEASLES EPIDEMICS IN TURKEY AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Authors:

1 Ismail Hamdi Kara, 2 Ali Ceylan, 3 Hamit Acemoglu.

1 Assoc. Prof. Dr. in Department of Family Practice,
2 Assist. Prof. Dr. in Department of Public Health,
3 Resident Dr. in Department of Public Health,
from Dicle University Medical School, Diyarbakir, Turkey,

Correspondence:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismail Hamdi Kara
Medical School of Dicle University,
Deartment of Family Practice -21280 Diyarbakir / TURKEY
PH: 011 90 412 248 8001 / 4255 (hospital) and 011 90 533 578 8243 (Mobile)
FX: 011 90 412 248 8440
E-mail: ihkara13@hotmail.com

Key words: Measles, Outbreaks, Immunization, Developing Countries

Abstract
In this study, the global extent of measles outbreaks were evaluated. We searched the reports of measles outbreaks that occurred between 1993 and 2002 in English published literature and data about measles morbidity and mortality rates of Turkey during 1970-2001. Thirty-five reports

described outbreaks in a total of 19 middle or low income countries. In Turkey, 30509 measles cases and 18 associated deaths were reported in 2001. In the same year the morbidity rate was 44.97 per 100000 population and the mortality rate was 0.13 per million population. As a conclusion, measures to control measles outbreaks must include partnerships with local municipalities and international health, rapid identification and vaccination of groups at high risk (e.g., health-care workers, migrants, and tourist industry personnel), an additional dose at 6-9 months for Infants at high risk (HIV-infected, vitamin A deficient, in closed communities such as refugee camps, or in the face of an outbreak), house-to-house monitoring of vaccination coverage, heightened surveillance in all regions of the country.

Introduction
In developing countries with a high level of infection, infants below the age of 12 months are at high risk for measles virus (MV) infection. Despite the widespread availability of measles vaccine for nearly 40 years, measles remains a major cause of childhood mortality. There were an estimated 30-40 million cases of measles in 2000, causing some 777 000 deaths (1).