Features of the clinical course of measles infection during the measles outbreak in 2018-2019 in Ukraine

Abstract

Measles is an infectious disease characterized by an acute onset, a short prodromal period, presence of febrile, catarrhal and intoxication syndromes, as well as the development of typical enanthema and exanthema. Despite the active work of WHO to eliminate measles and the introduction of a vaccination program in developing countries, measles remains an urgent problem and the cause of high mortality rates among both children and adults. One of the dangerous complications of measles infection is the respiratory tract involvement in yhe form of out-of-hospital pneumonia, which occurs in 10-34% of patients. The out-of-hospital pneumonia was one of the main complications among the patients with measles who were treated in the Kharkiv regional clinical hospital and was registered both in patients with severe and moderate disease. That is why it was interesting to study the clinical and laboratory features of the course of measles infection in the adult population at the present stage. Objective: to determine features of the clinical course of measles infection and the factors that are prerequisites for the development of complications. Materials and methods. The study included 65 patients who were treated in the Kharkiv regional clinical infectious hospital in 2018-2019. Based on the clinical course of the disease, the severity and the presence of complications, the patients included in the study were divided into 4 groups. The control group consisted of 20 healthy voluntary donors who did not have exclusion criteria. On the day of admission to the hospital and on the 10th day of stay in the hospital, based on the data of a clinical blood test, we calculated the cellular reactivity leukocyte indices (CRLI) – the white blood cell shift index (WBCSI), the white blood cell index (WBCI) and the D. A. Ivanov immunoreactivity index (IRI). Results and discussion. The study shows that the patients from groups 1 and 2 on the 10th day of hospitalization showed a complete clinical recovery and was discharged from the hospital, whereas patients from groups 3 and 4 on the 10th day showed a clinical improvement and were transferred for further treatment to the general department. When assessing the CRLI on the day of admission to the hospital, an increase in the WBCSI in patients from groups 2, 3 and 4 was found, with the greatest increase observed in patients from group 4. In patients from group 1, on the contrary, a decrease in the WBCSI and and an increase in WBCI were determined, which indicates the activation of the lymphocytic link of the immune response. Conclusions. The development of measles infection in the adult population is characterized by changes in the leukocyte indices of cellular reactivity, which are markers of the functional activity of the immune system. The moderate course of the disease is accompanied by a tendency to normalization of the indices that characterize the activity of the inflammatory process, while its severe course is characterized by an increase in the values of these indices and a decrease in the activity of the lymphocytic link of the immune response. Assessment of changes in the parameters of leukocyte indices in dynamics makes it possible to predict the clinical course of the disease and the risk of complications, to assess the adequacy of the therapy, as well as to identify the need for immune correction therapy.