Rougeole chez la femme enceinte : mise au point

[Ocular manifestations of measles in adults: About three cases]

Measles is a contagious viral infection that usually affects children. The disease is caused by morbillivirus, a virus of the family Paramyxoviridae. The clinical picture is characterized by four phases: incubation, invasion, eruption and desquamation. Ophthalmologic manifestations in measles are rare, dominated by conjunctivitis and keratitis. Corneal involvement is the main concern; it varies from simple superficial punctate keratitis to corneal perforation. We report three cases of acute keratitis in young adults during an epidemic. The epithelial involvement was peripheral, central or diffuse. The outcome was favorable under symptomatic topical treatment.

Ongoing measles outbreak in Wallonia, Belgium, December 2016 to March 2017: characteristics and challenges

We describe characteristics of an ongoing measles outbreak in Wallonia, Belgium, and difficulties in control measures implementation. As at 12 March 2017, 177 measles cases were notified, of which 50% were 15 years and older, 49% female. Atypical clinical presentation and severe complications, mainly among adults, in combination with late notification, low or unknown vaccination coverage of contacts, infected healthcare workers and increased workload due to contact tracing, are the main concerns for outbreak management.

IS A THIRD DOSE OF MEASLES VACCINE NECESSARY - AN IMMUNOLOGIST’S VIEW

Immunological aspects of features of post-vaccine immune response to measles virus are presented and causal relationships are detected, that lead to the disappearance of protective antibodies against measles virus, as one of the arguments for improvement of vaccination tactics with the aim to increase immune population and enhancement of epidemiologic situation regarding measles in general. At contemporary stage during mass vaccinations against measles a portion of seronegatives among women of reproductive age and newborns (up to 20.1%) with an additional increase of this parameter by 8 - 13% during pathologic course of pregnancy is established. At the age of 12 months portion of seronegatives among children with health deviations reaches 80 - 90.0% against 53.8% - in healthy. Revaccination of children with deviation of health is shown not to result in production of antibodies against measles virus at protective titers in 30.4 - 33.3% of cases, that could facilitate formation of risk groups for measles virus infection during unfavorable epidemic situations. A problem of possible introduction of a third dose of the measles vaccine among the indicated population groups is discussed.