Abstract
Measles is a most popular and epidemic viral infection of children. At Miyakonojo, in the Miyazaki Prefecture, a marked epidemic of measles have been continuing since 1984. Most of the patients were infants aged from 6 months to 2 years old. Some of them suffered from measles pneumonitis with severe A-a block in ABB. The patients of measles pneumonitis developed severe dyspnea, tachypnea, inspiratory-retraction, and cyanosis, etc.
A remarkable hilar shadow (butterfly-shaped) on the chest X-ray film was common, and some cases showed pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax.
We consider the factors of this epidemic of measles pneumonitis as follows:
(1) regional and environmental factor, (2) antipyretics (iatrogenic factor), (3) infants (age and immunological factors), and (4) viral factor.
