[Measles immunity in infants at the time of delivery and 6 months age in Yasouj]

ABSTRACT

Measles is an acute and highly contagious viral disease and although its morbidity remarkably decreased, it is still common in children of developing countries and is a main cause of mortality in children. The purpose of this study was to determine measles immunity in new-born infants and infants with 6 months age from Yasouj. This longitudinal study was conducted in 2004-2005. A consent form was filled in by children's parents and subsequently 3 ml of maternal and cord blood was collected from a total of 94 full-term pregnant women and their neonates who attended the labor ward of Emam Sajad hospital, Yasouj, to test using ELISA. Anti-Measles antibody was tested for 77 of the newborns. Data were analyzed using t X[2], Fisher and Correlation tests. 43.9% of the mothers and 48.9% of the newborns were immune to measles at the time of delivery, but only 10.4% of infants were immune at the age of 6 months [P<0.001]. There was a significant relationship between mothers' antibody titer and their newborn [P<0.001]. There was a significant difference in the level of measles immunity between the mothers and the newborns [P<0.05]. Birth-weight, sex, birth order, place of mother's residence and mother age had no significant effect on measles immunity of the infants. Regarding the low immunity level of the neonates at the birth time and at the 6 month age, postpone of beginning of vaccination against measles is not good idea and it may increase the risk of the disease in the children under one year