Assessment of Measles Vaccine Immunity in Children

Measles disease can be easily prevented by vaccination, but a need for a second dose is being discussed especially in the developing countries as new epidemics are still seen in many vaccinated communities. As new vaccination schedules are practiced in the world, we wanted to evaluate the immunity in children 1 to 11 years of age, who had been vaccinated with a single dose at the ninth month. Among the 377 children included in ty study, 84% seropositive and 16% seronegative results were found for the specific IgG antibodies. Despite being vaccinated, 22% of them were infected with measles at different ages. Among the 294 noninfected children, the overall seroposotivity rate was 81%. This rate varied among different age groups, as 89% at 1-3 ages, 68% at 4-7 ages and 92% at the 8-11 age group. As a result of this study, we may suggest a second dose of measles vaccine at the 18th month or on admission to school, to increase the immunity levels in children