[Investigation of a measles epidemic in Kouf, Tetouan Province, Morocco]

ABSTRACT

The investigation of a measles epidemic that occurred in May 1995 in the locality of Kouf [Province of Tetouan] detected 64 cases of measles among 281 children below 15 years of age. The attack rate was 22.8%. The most affected age group was 1-3 years. Age, sex, sublocality, school attendance and number of brothers and sisters did not seem to be risk factors for measles in this epidemic. The vaccine coverage among children aged 9 to 59 months was 83.8% with or without vaccination document and 92.7% with document. The vaccine efficacy in children 9 months to 3 years of age was 40%. Further investigations would be needed in order to clarify the reasons for this low percentage