title: Epidemiology of measles in Blantyre, Malawi: analyses of passive surveillance data from 1996 to 1998.
abstract: Measles surveillance data in Blantyre, Malawi were reviewed for 1996-8 to describe the epidemiology of infection and to estimate vaccine efficacy (VE) by the screening method. A total of 674 measles cases were reported to the Blantyre District Health Office during this period. Age distribution showed that 108 (16.1%) of the cases were aged less than 1 year. The median age was 5 years. Eighty percent of the cases between 1 and 19 years had been previously vaccinated. VE was 68.6% (95% CI, 527-792) for children 12-23 months of age and 67.3% (95% CI, 48.3-79.3) for infants 9-11 months of age. Reasons for this low vaccine efficacy are discussed. Previous vaccination history was negatively associated with the risk for developing cough during measles infection (odds ratio (OR), 0.30; 95% CI, 0.09-0.91), diarrhoea (OR, 0.64; CI, 0.44-0.95) and pneumonia (OR, 0.40; CI, 0.25-0.62). Logistic regression analysis showed that pneumonia in adults was negatively associated with vaccination history. The passive surveillance system for measles in Malawi was useful to describe the epidemiology of measles.
authors.affiliation: JICA/NMIMR Infectious Diseases Project, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dunga
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Broadhead
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Brabin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D008499:Medical Records; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D008458:Measles Vaccine