[Measles outbreak in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, in 1998]

The World Health Organization had the global target of reducing reported measles incidence from pre-vaccination era in American countries by 1995, to later eliminate indigenous measles transmission. The countries that have given priority to measles control have substantially reduced morbidity and mortality. Despite that, measles has continued occurring in epidemic outbreaks. This paper describes and analyses the outbreak occurred in Cordoba province, Argentina, in 1998. Out of 195 serum samples analysed from suspected cases, 28 (14.4%) were confirmed as measles by laboratory diagnosis. Of them, 25.0% occurred among vaccinated persons, 39.3% among unvaccinated ones, and 35.7% in individuals without reported vaccine status. The highest measles incidence was in the group aged 20-29 years old (60.7%), followed by the pre-school age group (1-4 years old) (21.4%), the infants under one year of age (14.3%) and finally 3.5% in the group older than 30 years old. These findings suggest a change in measles epidemiology with respect to the pre-vaccine era. The ability to prevent the next epidemic outbreaks will depend on the efficacy to prevent the accumulation of susceptible individuals and the maintenance of high measles vaccine coverage levels.