Clinical features of measles in immunocompromised children.

Measles is often fatal for immunocompromised hosts. Protective immunity against measles has been studied but is still not completely understood. Recently, five cases of measles were encountered in immunocompromised children. Two of these were allogeneic bone marrow transplanted cases (one common variable immunodeficiency and one severe aplastic anemia) in remission, one Wilms' tumor case in remission, one hepatoblastoma case after cytotoxic therapy at disease onset and one exaggerating hemophagocytic syndrome case with suppressed natural killer cell activity. Clinical symptoms, laboratory findings and the immunologic backgrounds of these five patients were investigated. One of the patients, an 8 year old boy with hemophagocytic syndrome, died of giant cell pneumonia which was confirmed in the section of necropsy lung specimen. Two other patients who received allogeneic bone marrow transplants were not immune to measles, despite their own and their donors' immunizations. Their clinical symptoms were rather severe but both patients recovered and have remained seropositive for as long as 13 months. This fatality from measles is the first reported in a patient with hemophagocytic syndrome. Suppressed natural killer cell activity may be a poor prognostic factor. Also, secondary immunization failure for measles can occur in bone marrow transplanted patients with rather severe clinical symptoms.