Infectious Diseases and Migration: Measles Cases in a Province, Turkey Before and After the Pandemic

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate the suspected measles cases reported in Mersin, Turkey between 2017 and 2020. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Mersin, Turkey between January 2020 and November 2021. The population of the study consisted of suspected measles cases reported in Mersin between 2017 and 2020. The dependent variable of the study was measles IgM antibody positivity, the independent variables included age, gender, nationality, city of residence, year and season of notification, presence of fever, and upper respiratory tract infection symptoms. Descriptive statistics were used to interpret the data while the chisquare and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 1205 suspected measles cases were reported in Mersin in the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Six hundred twenty three (51.7%) of the cases were female, 582 (48.3%) were male. Of the cases, 725 (60.2%) were from Turkey, 480 (39.8%) were from Syria. 724 of the cases (60.1%) were in Tarsus. Measles IgM was positive in 661 (54.9%) cases, while it was negative in 544 (45.1%) cases. Rate of measles IgM positivity was significantly higher among Syrian citizens (71.5%) (p<0.001). The incidence of measles IgM positivity in the Tarsus region was significantly higher (63.5%) than in other districts (p<0.001). Conclusion: A high rate of measles IgM positivity was detected in Syrian citizens and in the Tarsus region. It is recommended to increase vaccination among risk groups and to provide more training on protection from infectious diseases.