Measles outbreak in the Children’s Hospital in Saint-Petersburg, 2012

Abstract

Measles was imported to Saint-Petersburg from the Chechen Republic by the patient admitted to the Children’s Clinical Hospital where the measles focus out of 94 cases was formed within the period of January – March, 2012. The typical clinical form of infection was revealed for all measles cases. The general signs of the infection were fever, rash, cough, rhinitis, conjunctivitis. Children under 17 years old consisted three quarters of patients. Among measles patients 75% of cases were the non vaccinated children in the age of 5 months – 14 years. Measles was confirmed by detection of IgM antibodies to measles virus in ELISA in 93.6% of sera samples. Molecular studies of the biological samples from the patient who was the source of the infection as well as from the other patients revealed the measles virus genotype D4 “Iran 2010”. This genotype widely circulated in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as well as in some regions of Russia in 2010–2012. The later diagnostic and isolation of the first measles patient in this hospital facilitated the transmission of measles virus infection in the Hospital where the most part of the non vaccinated children were also treated.

Keywords

• measles
• measles virus genotypes
• patients among children and adults