The epidemiological characteristics of measles and challenges of measles elimination in Hang Zhou, China

Abstract

Objective: Following the national announcement of Measles Elimination 2012, numerous measures have been taken to control the incidence Hangzhou. However, the number of incidences remained at a level still higher than the elimination target. The present study aims to describe the epidemiological characteristics of measles, and proposes reasonable methods to achieve the target in Hangzhou. Method: Analyze characteristics of measles using descriptive epidemiology based on cases collected by the National Notidable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS ) from 2004 to 2011. Results: A total of 4712 confirmed cases were enrolled by the NNDSS with 7.87 per 100,000 people of incidence rate on average from 2004 to 2011. Individuals living in urban districts had higher risk of contracting measles than counties. Infants aged < 1 y observed the highest incidence rate with 239.35/100,000, and the age-specific incidence rate declined along with age-group but the trend reversed at adults. 52.20% of cases were floating cases and the measles vaccination was significantly different from the local cases ( x2 = 51.65, p < 0.001). February to June was the epidemic period for measles incidence with 81.88% of cases reported in cluster. Conclusion: The descriptive characteristics of measles suggested that factors included infant and adult individual, migrant population, and living urban area might be relate to the elimination target. More efforts were need to ensure susceptible population had accepted qualified measles vaccination. © 2013 Landes Bioscience.