Two doses of measles vaccine: are some states in India ready for it?
We present the results of two surveys of measles outbreaks near Vellore, which perhaps supports the cause for introduction of a second dose of measles vaccine. Survey one had 590 under 10-year olds. The attack rate was 15.1, 11.7 and 5.7% in the unimmunized, among those vaccinated at 6 months and at 9 months, respectively. The overall vaccine efficacy (VE) was 28% if vaccinated at 6 months and 66% if at 9 months. Second survey had 1702 children and adolescents. There were 59 cases of measles of which 49 were over 5 years of age, the mean age being 8.8 years. The VE was 66% for children up to 6 years and 48.4% for those aged 7-15. The data suggests that measles vaccine is better given at 9 months. The low VE in school age children could be improved by introducing a second dose of measles vaccine.
John
Sushil
S
Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamilnadu, India.
Sanghi
Savita
S
Prasad
Suranjan
S
Bose
Anuradha
A
George
Kuryan
K
D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008458:Measles Vaccine