title: ELISA underestimates measles antibody seroprevalence in US military recruits.
abstract: The prevalence of antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella in US military recruits is of importance to public health leaders. We performed ELISA testing using a commercially available product on samples from 537 recruits obtained in 1998, of which 437 were positive (81%). We then performed a validation study in a subsample of the population using plaque reduction neutralization (PRN) to assess misclassification error. This resulted in a corrected estimate of the prevalence of immunity to measles of 96% (95% CI: 92-100%). The military vaccinates a percentage of recruits who are likely to be immune if more sensitive testing, such as PRN, was used.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: Margot R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: Susette
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Audet
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Beeler
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008457:Measles / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology; D008889:Military Personnel; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral