A measles outbreak in a New England community. Perspectives

Between May 30 and June 29, 1974, 28 cases of measles occurred in schoolchildren in a residential New England community. The index patient probably contracted the disease on a school field trip 11 days before the onset of her illness. Of the other 27 cases, 15 had received live measles vaccine before age 1, and ten had no history of vaccination or disease. Four documented vaccine failures did occur in children vaccinated after age 1, but this was not an unusual number compared with the total number of vaccinees evaluated during the investigation. Control measures for susceptible persons including vaccination or modifying doses of immune serum globulin for exposure occurring more than 24 hours earlier. No additional cases of measles were reported for one month after the epidemic.