Epidemiological considerations of the age distribution of measles in India: a review

This paper reviews the Indian data on age distribution of measles prior to large scale immunization. In metropolitan areas, the median age was about 24 months and virtually all the cases were recorded in children under 5, whereas median age in most of rural studies was < 4-< 5 years and all the persons were not affected until 10 years of age. The situation was in between in other areas. Since less than 10 per cent of the cases occurred before 9 months of age, this age is appropriate for routine measles immunization. The results also suggested the choice of age groups to be immunized during measles mass campaigns; the upper age may be 3 years in metropolitan city, 10 years in rural areas, and 5 years in the rest of the population.