سيماي اپيدميولوژيك سرخك در استان يزد (1379-1376)

Epidemiologic feature of measles in Yazd province, Iran 1996 - 2000

Introduction: Measles virus has a wide spread distribution around the world and human is the only natural host of this virus. In Iran from 1987 the vaccination schedule was: one dosage at 9 months old and the second dose in 15 months old. Measles vaccine dose not give 100% immunity, as a result, the number of people who are sensitive to measles are increasing and this leads to sporadic and epidemics cases in the society . World health organization (WHO) is held responsible to eliminate measles in the eastern Mediterranean countries up to year 2010. Hence, study on the epidemiology of measles is important. Methods: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. All suspected cases which had been reported from the year 1995 to the year 2000 enrolted to the study. This was achieved by referring to the health center of Yazd city and information were gathered by answering question sheets. Three hundred and sixty nine cases (confirmed and suspected) had been reported to the center. Results: In the past four years most of the suspected cases of measles (64%) in Yazd city had been confirmed by the laboratory examinations. The majority of reported cases were the group 15-19 years old (30.6%). The second age group, was 10-14 years old (24.4%), while the least number of cases (3%) was found in the less than one year old age group. The majority individuals were vaccinated only once (47.7%). In the age group 15-19 years old most of the individuals had unknown vaccination history (41.5%). Seasonal patten of disease occurance ,indicates measles to have the most prevalence in spring (65.6%), and the least in autumn (2.7%). Conclusion: Overall the majority of measles cases have been observed in the males (64.2%). The frequency rate of the disease under 15 years old was not different among males and females. However, in the cases above 15 years old, was significantly higher in males than females. It could be possible since most reported cases were soldiers. The prevalence of reported cases of measles in the urban (cities) areas(65%) was higher than the rural areas (35%).