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Epidemiology of measles in Blantyre, Malawi: analyses of passive surveillance data from 1996 to 1998

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2002

S. YAMAGUCHI ,
A. DUNGA ,
R. L. BROADHEAD  and
B. J. BRABIN
S. YAMAGUCHI
Affiliation:
JICA/NMIMR Infectious Diseases Project, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana Tropical Child Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
A. DUNGA
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Malawi
R. L. BROADHEAD
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Malawi
B. J. BRABIN
Affiliation:
Tropical Child Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK Emma Kinderziekenhuis, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Abstract

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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, 52.7–79.2) 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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 129 , Issue 2 , October 2002 , pp. 361 - 369
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press