Journal of infectious diseases and diagnosis is an open access rapid peer reviewed journal in the field of Bacterial, Viral and Fungal Diseases. It is a bimonthly journal.

Measles is extremely contagious, but surviving the infection results in lifelong immunity, so its continued circulation in a community depends on the generation of susceptible hosts by birth of children. In communities which generate insufficient new hosts the disease will die out. This concept was first recognized by Bartlett in 1957, who referred to the minimum number supporting measles as the critical community size.

Incidence                                                                 

In 2011, the WHO estimated that there were about 158,000 deaths caused by measles. This is down from 630,000 deaths in 1990.  In developed countries, death occurs in 1 to 2 cases out of every 1,000 (0.1% - 0.2%). Death from measles was reported in approximately 0.2% of the cases in the United States from 1985 through 1992. In populations with high levels of malnutrition and a lack of adequate healthcare, mortality can be as high as 10%. Increased immunization has led to an estimated 78% drop in measles deaths among UN member states.

Even in countries where vaccination has been introduced, vaccination rates may remain low due to parents choosing not to have their children vaccinated. In Ireland, vaccination was introduced in 1985. There were 99,903 cases that year. Within two years, the number of cases had fallen to 201, but this fall was not sustained. Measles is a leading cause of vaccine-preventable childhood mortality. Worldwide, the fatality rate has been significantly reduced by a vaccination campaign led by partners in the Measles Initiative: the American Red Cross, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the WHO. Globally, measles fell 60% from an estimated 873,000 deaths in 1999 to 345,000 in 2005. Estimates for 2008 indicate deaths fell further to 164,000 globally, with 77% of the remaining measles deaths in 2008 occurring within the Southeast Asian region.

In 2006–07 there were 12,132 cases in 32 European countries: 85% occurred in five countries: Germany, Italy, Romania, Switzerland and the UK. 80% occurred in children and there were 7 deaths.

Outbreaks

Commonly outbreaks in one country spread to others and this can be traced by close examination of the virus DNA. As of 2020 measles is widespread and there have been over the last decade many outbreaks in areas that were formerly declared measles free. See below for individual countries by continent.

Some examples of measles spreading between countries are:

As of May 2011, over 17,000 cases of measles had so far been reported from France between January 2008 and April 2011, including 2 deaths in 2010 and 6 deaths in 2011. Over 7,500 of these cases fell in the first three months of 2011, and Spain, Turkey, Macedonia, and Belgium have been among the other European countries reporting further smaller outbreaks.

Journal of infectious diseases and diagnosis announces papers for the upcoming issue. Interested can submit their manuscript through online portal.

Submit manuscript at http://www.longdom.org/submissions/infectious-diseases-diagnosis.html or send as an e-mail attachment to the Editorial Office at editor.jidd@longdomjournal.org

Media contact:

Eliza Grace

Managing Editor

Journal of Infectious Diseases and Diagnosis

Mail ID: editor.jidd@longdomjournal.org