Measles in southern Ghana: 1985-1993.

Measles continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among children in Southern Ghana although at a much lower level than a decade earlier. The major indications for measles admissions and the mortality associated factors of pneumonia, malnutrition, and diarrhea complicated by dehydration, however remain the same. The majority of measles admissions were in children without primary immunization resident in the more densely populated inner city of Accra and the peri-urban areas inhabited by lower-income recent immigrants. Our data show uncomfortable increases in the number of children aged 3-8 months as well as school age children (> or = 60 months), thus reopening the perennial discussion on the measles immunization programme i.e. what to do with younger infants with doubtful maternally-derived protection as well as the children who have missed their primary immunization at 9 months or those with immunization failure. The advantages of the 2-dose measles immunization programme need urgent consideration by national programme directors in African countries. The second dose is especially advocated to address the attendant problems of the cold chain system, vaccine efficacy, vaccine failure and diagnostic errors as older school-going age children.