The Epidemiology of rubella and congenital rubella in Australia, 1992 to 1997
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.1999.23.30Keywords:
congenital rubella, measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, epidemiology, rubellaAbstract
Selective rubella vaccination of schoolgirls commenced in 1971 and was followed by a significant reduction in congenital rubella. Infant vaccination with MMR was introduced in 1989 to interrupt circulation of the virus in young children, and in 1994/95 the adolescent school based rubella vaccination program was changed to MMR for both boys and girls. This report reviews the epidemiology of rubella and congenital rubella between 1992 and 1997 using reports to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) and the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU). Notification rates for rubella exceeded 20 per 100,000 in 1992, 1993 and 1995 and declined to 7.2 per 100,000 in 1997. Sixty-one per cent of notifications occurred between September and December and 68% occurred in males. The incidence rate in males aged 15-22 years peaked at 152.6 per 100,000 in 1995 reflecting the lack of immunisation in this cohort. From 1993 to 1997, 19 children were reported with congenital rubella syndrome, representing 1 in 67,000 live births. Of these, 17 had multiple defects (4 died) and 2 had deafness only. There were also 5 infants with congenital rubella infection but no defects. Australia's rate of congenital rubella syndrome exceeded that of the United Kingdom and the United States of America but this may be partly attributable to differences in reporting practices. The impact of changing the second dose of MMR vaccine to 4 years of age in 1998 will require careful monitoring. Commun Dis Intell 1999;23:209-214.
Downloads
References
Burgess MA. Congenital rubella in Australia -1993 and early reports for 1994. Commun Dis Intell 1995;10:234-238.
Cheffins T, Chan A, Keane R, Hann EA, Hall R. The impact of rubella immunisation on the incidence of rubella, congenital rubella syndrome and rubella related terminations of pregnancy in SA. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1998;105:998-1004.
Anonymous. Rubella prevention-recommendations of the Immunisation Practices Advisory Committee (ACIP). MMWR 1990;39:1-18.
National Health and Medical Research Council. Surveillance case definitions. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council, 1994.
Burgess MA. Congenital rubella. In: Williams K, Mildenhall S, Elliott E, editors. Third annual report 1995. Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit. Westmead: Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, 1996.
Tookey P, Peckham C, Miller E. Congenital Rubella. British Paediatric Surveillance Unit. 11th Annual Report. London: British Paediatric Surveillance Unit within the Research Division of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1996-1997.
Tookey PA, Peckham CS. Surveillance of congenital rubella in Great Britain, 1971-96. BMJ 1999;318:769-770.
Anonymous. Rubella and congenital rubella syndrome - United States, 1994-1997. MMWR 1997;46:350-354.
Schluter WW, Reef SE, Redd SC, Dykewicz CA. Changing epidemiology of congenital rubella syndrome in the United States. J Infect Dis 1998;178:636-641.
Anonymous. Measles, mumps and rubella - vaccine use and strategies for elimination of measles, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome and control of mumps: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP). MMWR 1998;47:1-57.
Condon RJ, Bower C. Rubella vaccination and congenital rubella syndrome in WA. Med J Aust 1993;158:379-382.
Benenson A. Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, 16th ed. Washington: American Public Health Association, 1995:406.
Miller E, Waight P, Gay N, et al. The epidemiology of rubella in England and Wales before and after the 1994 measles and rubella vaccination campaign: fourth joint report from the PHLS and the National Congenital Rubella Surveillance Programme. Commun Dis Rep Rev 1997;7:R26-R32.
Miller E, Tookey P, Morgan-Capner P, et al. Rubella surveillance to June 1994: third joint report from the PHLS and the National Congenital Rubella Surveillance Programme. Commun Dis Rep Rev 1994;4:R146-R152.
National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy. Prepared by the Steering Committee, National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services 1996, Canberra, ACT.
Heath TC, Burgess MA, Forrest JM. Moving the second dose of MMR to preschool: rationale and implications for rubella and congenital rubella syndrome. Commun Dis Intell 1998;2:157-158.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 1999 Communicable Diseases Intelligence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
