Introduction
Measles is a public health problem especially in South Asia and Africa. Nylon Health District has experienced two measles outbreaks over a period
of three years. We hereby describe the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of the outbreak of February 2011.
Methods
A retrospective descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in November 2011. All suspected measles cases according to the World Health
Organization case definition line listed in the district service were included. Data was analyzed using Epi Info version 3.5.3 for Windows and
Microsoft Office Excel 2010. An epidemic curve was drawn and proportions per variable category were estimated and presented in frequency
tables.
Results
The outbreak started from the 4th to the 25th epidemiological week of 2011 with a peak on the 10th week after onset. The attack and case fatality
rates were 34/100000 inhabitants and zero respectively. Females and infants aged 9-59 months represented 97(63.4%) and 75(49%) of cases
respectively. Bonadiwoto health area alone had 81(52.9%) of cases. Of the 153 cases, only 34(22.2%) had a card-confirmed measles vaccination
status. Active community surveillance permitted the identification of 42(27.5%) cases.
Conclusion
Low measles vaccine coverage rate over the past years in the Nylon health district led to the accumulation of susceptible individuals which coupled
with poor environmental conditions favoured inter-human spread of measles. Developing novel strategies to vaccinate every child, especially the
Hard-to-Reach in the slums of the district will help to prevent future outbreaks.