A random cluster survey and a convenience sample give comparable estimates of immunity to vaccine preventable diseases in children of school age in Victoria, Australia.
We compared estimates of the age-specific population immunity to measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and varicella zoster viruses in Victorian school children obtained by a national sero-survey, using a convenience sample of residual sera from diagnostic laboratories throughout Australia, with those from a three-stage random cluster survey. When grouped according to school age (primary or secondary school) there was no significant difference in the estimates of immunity to measles, mumps, hepatitis B or varicella. Compared with the convenience sample, the random cluster survey estimated higher immunity to rubella in samples from both primary (98.7% versus 93.6%, P = 0.002) and secondary school students (98.4% versus 93.2%, P = 0.03). Despite some limitations, this study suggests that the collection of a convenience sample of sera from diagnostic laboratories is an appropriate sampling strategy to provide population immunity data that will inform Australia's current and future immunisation policies.
Kelly
Heath
H
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Locked bag 815, 10 Wreckyn Street, North Melbourne 3051, Carlton South, Vic. 3053, Australia. heath.kelly@mh.org.au
Riddell
Michaela A
MA
Gidding
Heather F
HF
Nolan
Terry
T
Gilbert
Gwendolyn L
GL
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000191:economics; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003625:Data Collection / Q000191:economics; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006306:Health Surveys; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000517:prevention & control; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine; D009107:Mumps / Q000517:prevention & control; D009109:Mumps virus / Q000276:immunology; D011897:Random Allocation; D012412:Rubella virus / Q000276:immunology; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014611:Vaccination; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine