title: Natural immunity to measles, rubella and mumps among Spanish children in the pre-vaccination era.
abstract: Prior to the start of mass vaccination campaigns against measles, rubella and mumps, a prevalence study of natural immunity to these diseases was undertaken in a sample of 1700 unvaccinated Spanish children. They were representative of the 3-7 year-old population in terms of age, regional distribution and urban or rural environment. Measles infection prevalence was significantly higher than that for rubella and mumps from 3 (48.3%, 14.2%, 25.5%, respectively) through 7 years of age, (64%, 40.9%, 39%). As a function of age, naturally-acquired immunity increased according to parabolic progressions. In the 3-5 year-old group, rural environment, low socioeconomic status, no school attendance and lack of brothers were associated with statistically lower levels of measles, rubella, or mumps infection. In the 6-7 year-old group, only 12% of the children showed antibodies against the three diseases and 18.7% exhibited triple susceptibility.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000276:immunology*; D009107:Mumps / Q000276:immunology*; D012409:Rubella / Q000276:immunology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral