[What is wrong with the measles vaccine in Mexico? Study of an epidemic outbrake of measles].

The study included 205 children with measles seen after an epidemic outbreak in Distrito Federal during the first six months of 1976. 65.8% of the cases had not been given specific immunization and out of the 70 vaccinated cases (34.2%), one half of them were under one year old and were not given re-enforcement afterwards. The clinical picture suffered no changes in vaccinated children, 40% of infants showed initial exanthema on chest and abdomen with centrifugal distribution and in 41.5% of them, diarrhea appeared during the prodromal period. The most outstanding elements of this epidemic outbreak were the high number of sensible cases and the high percentage of children vaccinated before the age of one year and who were not later given re-vaccination. Indequate handling of the vaccine or combination of vaccine withe gammaglobulin used in 1969 and 1970, are also mentioned as a possibility to explain failures of the vaccine in ths group of well vaccinated children.