Effective control measures limited measles outbreak after extensive nosocomial exposures in January-February 2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden

P Follin; L Dotevall; M Jertborn; Y Khalid; J Å Liljeqvist; S Muntz; I Qvarfordt; A Söderström; Å Wiman; C Åhrén; P Österberg; K Johansen

doi:10.2807/ese.13.30.18937-en

Surveillance and outbreak reports Open Access

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Effective control measures limited measles outbreak after extensive nosocomial exposures in January-February 2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden
P Follin¹ , L Dotevall¹ , M Jertborn² , Y Khalid³ , J Å Liljeqvist⁴ , S Muntz⁵ , I Qvarfordt⁶ , A Söderström¹ , Å Wiman⁷ , C Åhrén⁶ , P Österberg¹ , K Johansen⁷
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Affiliations: ¹ Department of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden ² Department of Infectious Diseases, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden ³ Department of Paediatrics at the Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden ⁴ Department of Virology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden ⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden ⁶ Department of Hospital Infection Control, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden ⁷ Department of Virology, Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden

Correspondence:
P Follin
per.follin vgregion.se
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Citation style for this article: Follin P, Dotevall L, Jertborn M, Khalid Y, Liljeqvist J Å, Muntz S, Qvarfordt I, Söderström A, Wiman Å, Åhrén C, Österberg P, Johansen K. Effective control measures limited measles outbreak after extensive nosocomial exposures in January-February 2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Euro Surveill. 2008;13(30):pii=18937. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.13.30.18937-en Received: 23 Apr 2008

Abstract

In January-February 2008, one imported case of measles initiated a series of exposures with around 380 nosocomial secondary contacts. Susceptible individuals were traced early and control measures were initiated that managed to limit the consequences considerably. Only four secondary cases were identified by the end of March. This minor outbreak illustrates the importance and efficiency of early control measures as well as the fact that the risk of measles outbreaks still exists in a country that has high measles, mumps, rubella vaccination coverage among children.