Measles is Back - Considerations for laboratory diagnosis

J J Dunn; F Baldanti; E Puchhammer; M Panning; O Perez; H Harvala; Pan American Society for Clinical Virology (PASCV) Clinical Practice and Public Policy Committee and the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV) Executive Committee

doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104430

Measles is Back - Considerations for laboratory diagnosis

J Clin Virol. 2020 Jul:128:104430. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104430. Epub 2020 May 13.

Authors

J J Dunn¹, F Baldanti², E Puchhammer³, M Panning⁴, O Perez⁵, H Harvala⁶; Pan American Society for Clinical Virology (PASCV) Clinical Practice and Public Policy Committee and the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV) Executive Committee

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: jjdunn@texaschildrens.org.
² Molecular Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia, Italy.
³ Center for Virology, Medical University Vienna, Austria.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Institute for Virology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Pathology, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, USA.
⁶ Department of Infection, University College of London, London, UK; National Microbiology Services, NHS Blood and Transplant, London, UK.

PMID: 32454430
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104430

Abstract

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that continues to cause significant mortality among young children worldwide despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. During the first half of 2019, over 182 countries reported more than 300,000 measles cases; greater than double the number from the same period in 2018. Timely recognition and laboratory confirmation of infected individuals as well as appropriate infection prevention measures are crucial to avert further transmission. This review highlights the importance of early recognition of the signs and symptoms of measles and provides details on the laboratory methods commonly employed to confirm cases, investigate outbreaks and characterize the virus. It's critical that clinicians, laboratorians and public health administrations work together to rapidly identify, confirm and contain the spread of measles globally.

Keywords: Laboratory diagnosis; Measles; Rubeola.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Child
Clinical Laboratory Techniques / methods*
Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
Humans
Measles / diagnosis*
Measles / epidemiology
Measles / prevention & control*
Measles / transmission
Measles Vaccine
Measles virus / classification
Vaccination

Substances

Measles Vaccine