- 著者
- Kenichi Komabayashi Junji Seto Shizuka Tanaka Yu Suzuki Tatsuya Ikeda Noriko Onuki Keiko Yamada Tadayuki Ahiko Hitoshi Ishikawa Katsumi Mizuta
- 出版者
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases
- 雑誌
- Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases (ISSN:13446304)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.71, no.6, pp.413-418, 2018-11-30 (Released:2018-11-22)
- 参考文献数
- 26
- 被引用文献数
- 28 34
The incidence of modified measles (M-Me), characterized by milder symptoms than those of typical measles (T-Me), has been increasing in Japan. However, the outbreak dominated by M-Me cases has not been thoroughly investigated worldwide. The largest importation-related outbreak of measles with genotype D8 occurred in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, from March to April 2017. This phenomenon was observed after Japan had achieved measles elimination in 2015. We confirmed 60 cases by detecting the genome of the measles virus (MeV). Among the cases, 38 were M-Me and 22 were T-Me. Thirty-nine (65.0%) patients were 20–39 years of age. Three out of 7 primary cases produced 50 transmissions, of which each patient caused 9–25 transmissions. These patients were 22–31 years old and were not vaccinated. Moreover, they developed T-Me and kept contact with the public during their symptomatic periods. Considering that M-Me is generally caused by vaccine failure, some individuals in Japan may have insufficient immunity for MeV. Accordingly, additional doses of measles vaccine may be necessary in preventing measles importation and endemicity among individuals aged 20–39 years. Furthermore, to accurately and promptly diagnose individuals with measles, particularly those who can be considered as primary cases, efforts must be exerted to detect all measles cases using epidemiological and genetic approaches in countries where measles elimination had been achieved.