<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Measles infection is of substantial interest to immunologists due to its paradoxical interaction with the immune system. After the acquisition of the measles infection, secondary infection plays a pivotal role in measles-related deaths. A cross-sectional study conducted between December 2018 and July 2019 is presented here. A total of one hundred children of both genders presented with measles complications were included following WHO criteria. Measles confirmation was done by quantitative determination of anti-measles antibodies (IgM) in patients’ sera while patient-related demographic data, vaccination status, and other clinical information were obtained on a separate form. The number of female patients (52%) slightly exceeded the number of males (48%). 43% of patients’ parents were illiterate, and half of the patients (50%) were from a poor background. The majority of children (76%) who presented with the complications did not receive a measles vaccine. 56% of children were breastfed while 58% received vitamin A supplements but developed complications. The elevated levels of anti-measles IgM were observed in 77% of cases. In both genders, the major complications were pneumonia, lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), acute diarrhea, diarrhea and LRTI, pneumonia and diarrhea, otitis media and pneumonia, myocarditis and LRTI, and pneumothorax. The majority of the infected children (n = 48) under 12 months of age had associated complications. It has been observed that the measles virus strikes early age children in the northwestern region of Pakistan, which is an alarming situation and is associated with the aforementioned complications, especially in unvaccinated children. Anti-measles IgM is an important serological parameter for early diagnosis of measles infection.</p>
</abstract>

Measles infection is of substantial interest to immunologists due to its paradoxical interaction with the immune system. After the acquisition of the measles infection, secondary infection plays a pivotal role in measles-related deaths. A cross-sectional study conducted between December 2018 and July 2019 is presented here. A total of one hundred children of both genders presented with measles complications were included following WHO criteria. Measles confirmation was done by quantitative determination of anti-measles antibodies (IgM) in patients’ sera while patient-related demographic data, vaccination status, and other clinical information were obtained on a separate form. The number of female patients (52%) slightly exceeded the number of males (48%). 43% of patients’ parents were illiterate, and half of the patients (50%) were from a poor background. The majority of children (76%) who presented with the complications did not receive a measles vaccine. 56% of children were breastfed while 58% received vitamin A supplements but developed complications. The elevated levels of anti-measles IgM were observed in 77% of cases. In both genders, the major complications were pneumonia, lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), acute diarrhea, diarrhea and LRTI, pneumonia and diarrhea, otitis media and pneumonia, myocarditis and LRTI, and pneumothorax. The majority of the infected children (n = 48) under 12 months of age had associated complications. It has been observed that the measles virus strikes early age children in the northwestern region of Pakistan, which is an alarming situation and is associated with the aforementioned complications, especially in unvaccinated children. Anti-measles IgM is an important serological parameter for early diagnosis of measles infection.

The Resurgence of Measles Infection and its Associated Complications in Early Childhood at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan

Polish Journal of Microbiology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Measles infection is of substantial interest to immunologists due to its paradoxical interaction with the immune system. After the acquisition of the measles...

The Resurgence of Measles Infection and its Associated Complications in Early Childhood at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan

Article Category: original-paper

Publié en ligne: 15 mai 2020

Pages: 177 - 184

Reçu: 01 févr. 2020

Accepté: 31 mars 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2020-020

Mots clés
measles, pneumonia, subacute-sclerosing panencephalitis, IgM, myocarditis, pneumothorax

© 2020 Muhammad Ilyas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Resurgence of Measles Infection and its Associated Complications in Early Childhood at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan

Article Category: original-paper

Publié en ligne: 15 mai 2020

Pages: 177 - 184

Reçu: 01 févr. 2020

Accepté: 31 mars 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2020-020

Mots clésmeasles, pneumonia, subacute-sclerosing panencephalitis, IgM, myocarditis, pneumothorax

© 2020 Muhammad Ilyas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
measles, pneumonia, subacute-sclerosing panencephalitis, IgM, myocarditis, pneumothorax