Trends of rubella incidence during a 5-year period of case based surveillance in Zimbabwe

Chimhuya, Simbarashe; Manangazira, Portia; Mukaratirwa, Arnold; Nziramasanga, Pasipanodya; Berejena, Chipo; Shonhai, Annie; Kamupota, Mary; Gerede, Regina; Munyoro, Mary; Mangwanya, Douglas; Tapfumaneyi, Christopher; Byabamazima, Charles; Shibeshi, Eshetu Messeret; Nathoo, Kusum

doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1642-4

Cited by 30 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…About 93.1% of rubella confirmed cases were among <15 years old children and rubella reached its peak incidence in children between 3 and 6 years of age. This was similar to finding from a study in Zimbabwe [13]. The low incidence of rubella cases in persons older than 15 years is likely due to natural infection and development of immunity against rubella at earlier ages.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The proportion of rubella positive cases increased from 4.2% (83) in 2009 to 23.9% (856) in 2013 but dropped to 10.6% (222 cases) and 15.3% (319 cases) in 2014 and 2015 respectively. This was higher than previous findings from Ethiopia [11] and Abia State of Nigeria [12] and was lower than a finding of 37.6% from Zimbabwe [13]. The increasing number of laboratory confirmations might be related with improvement in surveillance sensitivity, quality and coverage.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…Similar high positivity rate of cases was found in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe [13]. This may be related to the higher population density in cities that favors increased transmission.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Getahun¹,

Beyene²,

Gallagher³

et al. 2016

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundRubella is a common mild rash illness caused by rubella virus. The majority of infections occur in children and young adults. The infection is the cause of a serious birth defect known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) when a woman acquires infection early in pregnancy. Ethiopia has not yet established rubella virus surveillance and has not yet introduced rubella vaccine into the routine immunization program. We characterize the epidemiology of laboratory confirmed rubella virus cases collected through measles surveillance from 2009 to 2015 to better understand the burden of the disease in the country.MethodsA descriptive analysis was made to characterize rubella cases reported through the national measles case based surveillance system. The measles case definition was used to capture potential rubella cases. A suspected measles case was a person with generalized rash and fever with cough, or coryza or conjunctivitis. Those cases whose sera were negative for measles IgM antibodies were tested for rubella IgM antibody. A confirmed rubella case was a person who tested positive for rubella IgM. Only laboratory confirmed rubella cases were analyzed in this article.ResultsBetween 2009 and 2015, a total of 28,284 serum/plasma samples were collected and tested for measles IgM antibody and 11,151 (39.4%) were found positive. A total of 17,066 measles IgM negative or indeterminate samples were tested for rubella virus IgM and 2615 (15.3%) were found positive during the same period. Of 2615 confirmed rubella cases, 52.2% were females. The age of confirmed cases ranged from one month to 42 years with a mean age of 7.3 years. Three-fourth of all confirmed rubella cases were aged less than 10 years. The number of laboratory confirmed rubella cases linearly increased from 83 in 2009 to 856 in 2013 but dropped to 222 and 319 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Higher number of cases occurred in the hot dry season (January through June) and in the central and western part of Ethiopia with 127 lab-confirmed outbreaks in the study period.ConclusionsBased on our analysis, rubella was found to be endemic throughout Ethiopia. Children below the age of 10 years were the most affected. The burden of rubella cases varied from year to year but had a seasonal peak in March. To better understand the magnitude of rubella prior to vaccine introduction, establishing rubella surveillance system, conducting sero-prevalence studies among child bearing age females and establishing CRS sentinel surveillance among young infants are critical.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Getahun¹,

Beyene²,

Gallagher³

et al. 2016

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, 17.3% of non-measles cases were found positive for rubella virus and children 5–9 years were affected greatly. This finding was much lower than a 37.6% positivity rate of rubella from Zimbabwe [17]. In general, 43.2% of laboratory tested samples were positive for either measles or rubella.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Epidemiology of laboratory confirmed measles virus cases in the southern nations of Ethiopia, 2007–2014

Getahun

Beyene

Ademe³

et al. 2017

BMC Infect Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundIn Ethiopia, measles case-based surveillance was introduced in 2004 as one strategy for measles control by laboratory confirmation of suspected cases. In this article, epidemiological distribution of laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported from the Southern Nation Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia between 2007 and 2014, as the region is one of the highly measles affected areas in Ethiopia.MethodA serum sample was collected from all measles suspected cases, and patient information was captured by case reporting format (CRF). Samples were transported to the National Measles Laboratory for Measles IgM testing by ELISA technique. Data entry and analysis were done using Epi-Info 3.5.4 software.ResultA total of 4810 samples were tested for measles IgM using ELISA technique and 1507 (31.3%) were found positive during 2007–2014 in SNNPR of Ethiopia. Patients with age 1–4 years were the most affected regardless of sex. The incidence of measles confirmed cases increased from 15 in 2007 to 180 in 2013 per million population. The highest percentage of laboratory-confirmed cases were found in 2014. Measles was found distributed throughout the regional state.ConclusionMeasles was found a public health important disease in SNNPR of Ethiopia, mostly affecting children 1–4 years. The incidence of measles cases is increasing from time to time. Additional research to determine the genotype of circulating measles virus, knowledge, attitude and practice of professionals and the population for measles vaccination and infection in the region is important. A wide age group measles vaccination campaign is highly recommended.

show abstract

“…In a recent review of literature, Goodson [2] reported rubella Immunoglobulin M (IgM) positivity rates among suspected measles cases ranging from 14 to 40% in the World Health Organization African Region between 2002 and 2009. Descriptive studies on measles surveillance programs in Africa indicate higher acute rubella positivity rates among the 5-9 years [2, 3] and 10-14 years age group [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of acute rubella infection in Zambia during the pre-vaccination period (2005–2016) as a baseline for monitoring rubella epidemiology in the post-rubella vaccine introduction era

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Rubella is highly under reported in Zambia as in most sub-Saharan countries despite being a disease of major public health concern especially among women of childbearing age. In September 2016, Zambia introduced a combined measles-rubella vaccine in children 0-14 years. In this study, we estimated the proportion positive for acute rubella among suspected but negative measles cases between 2005 and 2016 and determined its correlates for monitoring rubella epidemiology post-rubella vaccine introduction. Methods: In a retrospective study, 4497 measles IgM negative serum samples from 5686 clinically suspected measles cases were examined for rubella IgM antibodies using the Siemens, Enzygnost® ELISA kit at the national measles laboratory. Data on demographics, year and month of onset were extracted from the surveillance data. Multivariate logistic regression analysis using backward variable selection was conducted to determine independent predictors for acute rubella. The magnitude of association was estimated using adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Results: Overall, a proportion of 29.2% (1313/4497) affecting mostly those between 5 and 24 years was determined. Only age, province, month and year were independently associated with acute rubella. The regional proportions varied from 21.8-37.3% peaking in the month of October. Persons in the age group 10-14 years (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 2.43; 95% CI [2.01-2.95]) were more likely while those aged < 1 year less likely (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI [021-0.48]) to have acute rubella compared to those aged 25 years or older. Persons in 2010 were less likely (AOR = 0.12; CI [0.05, 0.28]) to have acute rubella compared to those in 2016. While acute rubella was more likely to occur between July and November compared to December, it was less likely to occur between February and May. Conclusions: Rubella virus was circulating in Zambia between 2005 and 2016 affecting mostly persons in the age group 5-24 years peaking in the hot dry season month of October. Although vaccination against rubella has been launched, these baseline data are important to provide a reference point when determining the impact of the vaccination program implemented.

show abstract

Trends of rubella incidence during a 5-year period of case based surveillance in Zimbabwe

Cited by 30 publications

References 15 publications

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Epidemiology of laboratory confirmed measles virus cases in the southern nations of Ethiopia, 2007–2014

Epidemiology of acute rubella infection in Zambia during the pre-vaccination period (2005–2016) as a baseline for monitoring rubella epidemiology in the post-rubella vaccine introduction era

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About