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

The Resurgence of Measles Infection and its Associated Complications in Early Childhood at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pol J Microbiol. 2020;69:1-8 Authors: Ilyas M, Afzal S, Ahmad J, Alghamdi S, Khurram M 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 trac...
Source: Polish Journal of Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Tags: Pol J Microbiol Source Type: research