Morbidity and mortality from measles in an urban community of The Sudan

An account is given of 183 children suffering from measles who were admitted to El Buluk Hospital, Omdurman, Khartoum, during the period January 1975 to December 1976. It is suggested that in Khartoum measles may occur in epidemics. The disease affected mainly the one to three year age group. Despite the relatively low mortality (4·9%) the morbidity was very high, particularly from secondary infections and especially of the respiratory tract. The introduction of successful measles vaccination may help reduce the number of cases, particularly in the one to three year old group.