Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115842

Ali Ihsan Bozkurt, MD, PhD¹, Mehmet Bostanci, MD¹, Nural Cevahir, MD², Ahmet Ergin, MD, PhD, MPH¹, Ismail Sancak, MD³, Birsen Yilmaz, MD¹, Binali Catak, MD¹, and Ilknur Kaleli, MD². (1) Department of Public Health, Pamukkale University, School of Medicine, Kinikli Campus, Denizli, Turkey, 05444176232, abozkurt@pamukkale.edu.tr, (2) Department of Microbiology, Pamukkale University, School of Medicine, Kinikli Campus, Denizli, Turkey, (3) Directory of Health, Doktorlar Cad. Hastane civari, Denizli, Turkey

Measles is still an important and deadly childhood disease for developing countries. Despite routine vaccinations, it is an endemic disease in Turkey and it causes epidemics in every 3-4 years. One of the strategies to control measles is the mass vaccination campaigns of primary school students. The first mass vaccination of primary school students in Turkey was between December 7 and 26, 2003. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of the mass measles vaccination campaign on measles seroposivity among primary school children in Denizli, Turkey. The study was completed in two socio-economically different areas of Denizli, Turkey with a sample size of 520 students. One primary school from each area and one classroom from each grades were randomly included in the sample. Before the study, the permission from the Pamukkale University Institutional Board and written informed consents from parents were obtained. Before and 2-months after the measles mass vaccinations, blood samples were collected from the students and measles specific IgGs were studied. The pre-vaccination seropositivity was 74.7%. Two-months after the vaccination campaign, the seropositivity increased to 96.5%. Pre-vaccination seropositivity in 8-graders was significantly lower than that in the others (57.5%, p<0.001). This difference was explained by the number of vaccinations received. Specifically, 8-graders were the only ones who received one dose of measles vaccination. This study concluded that mass measles vaccination campaigns are still very important strategies to control measles for developing countries.

*This study was supported by Pamukkale University Research Fund.

Learning Objectives:

• To recognize measles as a preventable but still deadly childhood disease for developing countries.
• To evaluate the current measles seropositivity level in a developing country settings with a routine vaccination program.
• To assess the effect of a mass vaccination program and multiple measles vaccine doses on seropositivity.

Keywords: Evaluation, Epidemiology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.