Epidemiological analysis of measles from 1957 to 2006 in Fenghua City of Zhejiang Province

Objective The study was conducted to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of measles in fifty years' period from 1957 to 2006 in Fenghua City for the adjustment of measles immu- nization strategy.Methods The measles epidemic in the fifty years were divided into four stages:be- fore the measles vaccination,in the measles vaccine popularization,after the measles vaccine became planned-immunization once a year and monthly measles vaccine with cold chain equipment.Geomet- ric mean was used for the average annual incidence rate at the first three stages,while arithmetic mean was used at IV stage.Results The incidence of measles and age constitution had significant differ- ences among the four stages;the onset age ranged from chiefly the early childhood and school-age to 8-month-old and over 15-year-old.Eight-month-old infants and the youth over 15-year-old ac- counted for 96.92% of the total cases in Fenghua from 2005 to 2006.Conclusion It is required to strengthen the measles vaccine immunization for junior high school students to reduce the high inci- dence of measles among older and younger people and to eradicate the measles disease.