Australian vaccine preventable disease epidemiological review series: measles 2000-2011.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Since the introduction of measles vaccine to the vaccination schedule, the burden of measles has substantially fallen in Australia. Despite this, a number of recent measles outbreaks have occurred. The aim of this study was to examine the burden of measles in Australia using notification, hospitalisation and mortality data with the objectives of setting a baseline for comparison prior to the introduction of the combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine.

METHODS:

Data were obtained from the Australian National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, the National Hospital Morbidity Database and the National Mortality Database to obtain notification, hospitalisation and death data, respectively from 2000 to 2011. Rates were calculated and compared over time by age group and jurisdiction.

RESULTS:

Since 1993, measles notifications have fallen considerably in Australia. However, between 2000 and 2011, measles notification rates and hospitalisation rates fluctuated. Between 2000 and 2011, there were 990 measles notifications in Australia. The average annual notification rate was 0.4 per 100,000 population. Children aged 0-4 years were the most susceptible group, particularly infants less than 1 year of age (average annual rate, 1.6 per 100,000 population). High incidence was also observed in adolescents (average annual rate, 0.7 per 100,000 population) and young adults (average annual rate, 0.8 per 100,000 population). Jurisdictional variation occurred with differing patterns of notifications and hospitalisations.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although a marked reduction in measles notifications and hospitalisations has occurred in the past decade, susceptible individuals should be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks and to maintain a low incidence of measles and Australia's elimination status.

• Authors: May Chiew, Aditi Dey, Nicolee Martin, Han Wang, Stephanie Davis, Peter B McIntyre
• Journal: Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report (Commun Dis Intell Q Rep) Vol. 39 Issue 1 Pg. E1-9 (Mar 31 2015) ISSN: 1445-4866 [Electronic] Australia
• PMID: 26063085 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce the whole or part of this work in unaltered form for your own personal use or, if you are part of an organisation, for internal use within your organisation, but only if you or your organisation do not use the reproduction for any commercial purpose and retain this copyright notice and all disclaimer notices as part of that reproduction. Apart from rights to use as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 or allowed by this copyright notice, all other rights are reserved and you are not allowed to reproduce the whole or any part of this work in any way (electronic or otherwise) without first being given the specific written permission from the Commonwealth to do so. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights are to be sent to the Online, Services and External Relations Branch, Department of Health, GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, or by email to [email protected].

Chemical References

• Chickenpox Vaccine
• Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine
• Vaccines, Combined
• measles, mumps, rubella, varicella vaccine

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Australia (epidemiology)
• Chickenpox Vaccine (administration & dosage)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Disease Notification (statistics & numerical data)
• Disease Outbreaks (prevention & control)
• Epidemiological Monitoring
• Female
• Hospitalization (statistics & numerical data)
• Humans
• Immunization Schedule
• Incidence
• Infant
• Male
• Measles (epidemiology, immunology, mortality, prevention & control)
• Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine (administration & dosage)
• Morbillivirus (immunology)
• Survival Analysis
• Vaccination
• Vaccines, Combined (administration & dosage)