Measles outbreak in South Africa: epidemiology of laboratory-confirmed measles cases and assessment of intervention, 2009-2011.
PLoS One
; 8(2): e55682, 2013.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23437059
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Since 1995, measles vaccination at nine and 18 months has been routine in South Africa; however, coverage seldom reached >95%. We describe the epidemiology of laboratory-confirmed measles case-patients and assess the impact of the nationwide mass vaccination campaign during the 2009 to 2011 measles outbreak in South Africa.METHODS:
Serum specimens collected from patients with suspected-measles were tested for measles-specific IgM antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and genotypes of a subset were determined. To estimate the impact of the nationwide mass vaccination campaign, we compared incidence in the seven months pre- (1 September 2009-11 April 2010) and seven months post-vaccination campaign (24 May 2010-31 December 2010) periods in seven provinces of South Africa.RESULTS:
A total of 18,431 laboratory-confirmed measles case-patients were reported from all nine provinces of South Africa (cumulative incidence 37 per 100,000 population). The highest cumulative incidence per 100,000 population was in children aged <1 year (603), distributed as follows <6 months (302/100,000), 6 to 8 months (1083/100,000) and 9 to 11 months (724/100,000). Forty eight percent of case-patients were ≥ 5 years (cumulative incidence 54/100,000). Cumulative incidence decreased with increasing age to 2/100,000 in persons ≥ 40 years. A single strain of measles virus (genotype B3) circulated throughout the outbreak. Prior to the vaccination campaign, cumulative incidence in the targeted vs. non-targeted age group was 5.9-fold higher, decreasing to 1.7 fold following the campaign (P<0.001) and an estimated 1,380 laboratory-confirmed measles case-patients were prevented.CONCLUSION:
We observed a reduction in measles incidence following the nationwide mass vaccination campaign even though it was conducted approximately one year after the outbreak started. A booster dose at school entry may be of value given the high incidence in persons >5 years.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Surtos de Doenças
/
Técnicas de Laboratório Clínico
/
Sarampo
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
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Incidence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Child
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Child, preschool
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Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Male
País como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2013
Tipo de documento:
Article