RESUMEN
PIP: Measles is caused by a virus which exclusively affects humans. Erroneously it has been considered benign, although it causes high morbidity and mortality because of the complications it precipitates. The Expanded Program of Immunization estimated that 1.5 million children in the world die every year because of measles. The objective was to analyze the incidence of measles and complicated measles in children who had been admitted to Dr. Robert Reid Cabral Pediatric Clinic, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the period of January 1991 to January 1992. A total of 311 patients were enrolled with the diagnosis of measles during the 13 months of the study, with an average of 24 cases per month. October and December were the months when most patients presented with measles: respectively, 56 (18%) and 60 (19.4%) patients of the total caseload. Pneumonia was the most frequent complication with 277 cases (87.1%), followed by acute diarrheal disease with 25 cases (8.0%). The most affected was the 1-3 year age group with 143 patients (46.0%). In 135 cases (43.4%) the children with measles had not been vaccinated; only 72 patients (23.3%) had received vaccination. Furthermore, 104 patients (33.3%) did not know their vaccination history. 170 patients (54.7%) were malnourished. During the study period 37 children (11.9%) died in the hospital and 24 of these children (64.9%) died as a result of the complication of pneumonia. Other causes of death were: laryngotracheitis (4), encephalitis (3), subcutaneous emphysema (4), and septicemia (2). This investigation showed that pneumonia is a very grave complication in malnourished children and in children under one year of age.^ieng