Measles cases and anti-epidemic measures in a children’s multidisciplinary hospital

Introduction. Measles is a highly contagious disease. Clinically, measles can be severe, leading to the most common complication — pneumonia. Before the beginning of the 21^st century, WHO developed a program to eliminate measles, first in specific countries and regions, then worldwide. This became possible after the introduction of effective and safe vaccines. However, refusals to vaccinate against measles due to misinformation about vaccination complications have led to a decrease in vaccination coverage worldwide, including Russia. Objective: using 6 cases of measles in a children’s multidisciplinary hospital as an example, to remind about the potential danger of measles and identify the reasons for the inability to eradicate this vaccine-preventable infection. The article describes six cases of measles in children with severe chronic diseases undergoing inpatient treatment at the National Medical Research Center for Children’s Health, as well as the anti-epidemic measures taken. The 6 cases of measles detected in a children’s hospital showed the relevance of measles infection in the world and in our country in particular, the necessary alertness of doctors and medical personnel in relation to recently forgotten infections, indicated the importance of timely vaccination against measles and measures to prevent measles outbreaks. WHO and other structures, including Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), have already taken certain measures to restore the level of vaccination coverage, but, as practice shows, and these described cases of measles confirm this, work on restoring confidence in vaccines is still ahead.

Contributions:
Galitskaya M.G., Makarova S.G. — concept and design of the study;
Galitskaya M.G., Volkhonskaya A.E. — collection and processing of the material;
Galitskaya M.G. — writing the text;
Fisenko A.P., Makarova S.G. — editing the text.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: February 04, 2025
Accepted: March 18, 2025
Published: April 29, 2025

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