PP-070 Measles cases and outbreaks in Albania

Aim Measles is a highly contagious vaccine-preventable infection disease caused by measles virus. Measles has become epidemic over most of the world, with an important increase in the number of cases recently. The major factor responsible for this outbreak is the increase in unvaccinated children, which fell from 92%, on average, in 2019 to 91% in 2022, according to the WHO. Globally, the number of measles cases increased by 18% between 2021 and 2022, and deaths from measles increased by 43%, according to a WHO report released last November. The purpose of this study is to recall that measles is a disease often forgotten but not gone, and remains one of the most contagious infectious diseases. Material and Method We conduced a descriptive case study among children who had either a clinical presentation or a laboratory confirmation (IgM positivity) presenting at Durrës Reagional Hospital (Albania) during January 2024. Results All 9 cases were documented to have had fever, conjunctivitis, and maculopapular rash (figure 1). Also, the majority had cough (88.8%) and Koplik spots (66.6%). 2 childen aged < 12 months, 2 of them aged 12–60 months and 5 others were > 5 years old. None of them had received any dose of MMR vaccine. All the children were cousins to each other. They belonged to 3 different families, which had close contacts to each other. Common complications were acute diarea (44.4%) and laryngotracheobronchitis (88.8%). Conclusions Measles is still a significant problem among public health. This study showed that this outbreak was associated with under vaccination. A good outbreak control program will depend on the rapid recognition of the disease isolation of these children (while infectious) and prompt vaccination of children.