Epidemiology of measles in Jinhua city from 2004 to 2008 and prevention/control strategy

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of measles in Jinhua and provide evidence to develop strategy for measles prevention and control. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the data of measles epidemic in Jinhua from 2004 to 2008. Results A total of 5471 measles cases were reported during this period with the average annual incidence rate of 19.47/lakh. Most cases were sporadic ones and outbreak was rare. The epidemic had obvious seasonality with the incidence peak during March-May. The incidence was high in the developed area with dense floating population. The major cases were children living separately and farmers. Age group of 15 years and age group of 8 months -7 years were affected mostly. The cases among local residents were mainly the persons aged ＜8 months and 15 years, but the cases among floating population were mainly the pre-school aged children. The proportions of the cases among the floating population, infants under 8 months and persons aged 15 years increased. The cases without vaccination history or with unknown vaccination history accounted for 86.00%. Conclusion The incidence of measles increased in Jinhua in recent years. It is the key points of measles prevention and control to insure high coverage rate and successful rate of measles vaccination, eradicate vaccination gap and take floating population, infants under 8 months and persons aged 15 years as the priority populations in measles prevention and control.