[An epidemic of measles in Burkina Faso: 714 cases hospitalized in the hospital at Bobo-Dioulasso. A study of risk factors]

From January 1986 through June 1987, 714 children with measles were admitted to the Pediatric Department of the Sanou Souro Hospital in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina-Faso. Eighty-four per cent of cases occurred during the first semester of 1987. Sixty per cent of patients were 9 to 35 months of age. The case-fatality rate was 29.1% (31.5% during the first semester of 1987, 12% in 1986). Fifty-five per cent of deaths occurred within 24 hours of admission. The most common clinical features upon admission included dehydration (91% of patients), diarrhea (64%), conjunctivitis (56%), fever in excess of 39.5 degrees C (50%), respiratory infection (46%), and cardiovascular collapse (34.5%). Factors associated with a fatal outcome included dehydration and cardiovascular collapse, poor nutritional status, and occurrence of the disease during the dry season (March, April, May). In most cases, immunization status of affected children was unknown. The high mortality rate can be ascribed to the significant delay with which medical care was provided, due in part to the inadequacy of primary health care facilities. This outbreak denotes the inadequacy of immunization against this disease that is included in the Extended Immunization Program.