Impact of Mass Measles Campaigns among Children Less Than 5 Years Old in Uganda

Abstract

In 1999-2001, a national measles control strategy was implemented in Uganda, including routine immunization and mass vaccination campaigns for children aged 6 months to 5 years. This study assesses the impact of the campaigns on measles morbidity and mortality. Measles cases reported from 1992 through 2001 were obtained from the Health Management Information System, and measles admissions and deaths were assessed in six sentinel hospitals. Measles incidence declined by 39%, measles admissions by 60%, and measles deaths by 63% in the year following the campaigns, with impact lasting 15 to 22 months. Overall, 64% of measles cases were among children <5 years of age, and 93% were among children </=15 years old. The cost per child vaccinated was $0.86. Routine immunization coverage remained low, at 61% in 2001. To eliminate measles in Uganda, routine immunization should be strengthened, campaigns should be conducted among those <15 years of age, and nationwide case-based measles surveillance should be put in place.

Measles outbreak and response immunisation in a south-western district of Nigeria: January to June 2013

“…Our finding supports those in previous studies, namely that there is enough time to mount ORI during a measles outbreak in Africa, but highlights the need to achieve high vaccination coverage with ORI during the measles outbreak. 19,[37][38][39][40] The outcome of ORI, where low coverage (10% of the target population was vaccinated during ORI) was recorded, could be the result of poor social mobilisation activities with regard to the exercise, and also the exclusion of the use of mobile outreach services, especially in settlements with poor access in the affected district. Also, the time available for planning and implementation of the exercise could have contributed, because of logistic constraints, such as out-of-stock vaccine supplies and the shortage of a technical health work force associated with the conduct of mass immunisation campaigns in regions such as the affected district.…”

Using Routine Health Information Data for Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

“…RHIS data have been used to evaluate a wide range of interventions, ranging from programs that targeted speci c diseases to interventions or policies that affected multiple types of diseases or health services. These included: the effect of malaria control strategies [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] , user fee exemption policies [37][38][39][40] , health nancing schemes [41][42][43][44] , interventions on health governance [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] , the administration of new vaccines and vaccination campaigns [54][55][56] , as well as community-level interventions such as approaches to enhance community participation and improve referrals from traditional birth attendants in increasing the demand for maternal and child care [57][58][59] .…”

Impact of Supplementary Immunization Activities in Measles-Endemic Areas: A Case Study From Guangxi, China

“…With these limitations in mind, we believe, to the best of our knowledge, that the current study is the first to document an immunization campaign conducted in China with a fairly large population using a rotating risk assessment procedure. The majority of previous studies were conducted among relatively small populations [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”