Hepatitis and jaundice associated with measles in young adults. An analysis of 65 cases

Abstract

The clinical course of 65 adult patients hospitalized because of measles during 1975 and 1981-1982 was analyzed. Liver involvement was found in 80% (51/65) of the patients, 5 patients had clinical jaundice. The disturbances of liver function tests reached their peak values between days 5 and 10 of the disease. In this study of measles in adulthood, 3 observations of unusual interest were noted: hepatitis occurs commonly in the more severely ill patients and it may manifest clinically as jaundice; long-term follow-up (up to 7 yr) shows a clear tendency to complete resolution of the liver damage; there is a clear correlation between the severity of hepatic involvement and the occurrence of secondary bacterial infections.