title: Vaccination status and seroprevalence of measles and polio antibodies in 1-6-year-old children in the Elim health ward of Gazankulu.
abstract: Seroprevalence was used to evaluate the vaccination programme in the Elim health ward of Gazankulu. Antibodies to measles and polio were measured in 1-6-year-old children together with vaccination status. In 224 children studied using a cluster sampling technique, vaccine coverage was found to be 86% for measles and over 90% for polio and diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. It was difficult to determine vaccine failure rates accurately; 21% of children were seronegative after having received measles vaccine, 32% who had apparently not been vaccinated had antibodies, while a total of 27% had no measles antibodies. Thirty-nine per cent of children failed to demonstrate antibodies to all 3 types of poliovirus after having received 3 doses of oral polio vaccine, 94% had immunity against type 2, and 76% and 74% were immune to types 1 and 3, respectively. Reasons for diminished effectiveness of vaccination programmes are cited; in this study it was probably due to decreased vaccine efficacy related to inadequacies in the cold-chain. Recommendations are that seroprevalence studies are useful, but only after vaccine coverage and the cold-chain have been optimised.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Swardt
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Ijsselmuiden
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000276:immunology; D013019:South Africa; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral