TY - JOUR
T1 - An 11-year trend of rubella incidence cases reported in the measles case-based surveillance system, Ghana
AU - Dongdem, Anthony Zunuo
AU - Alhassan, Elizabeth
AU - Opare, David
AU - Boateng, Gifty
AU - Bosu, George
AU - Amponsa-Achiano, Kwame
AU - Sarkodie, Badu
AU - Dzotsi, Emmanuel
AU - Adjabeng, Michael
AU - Afagbedzi, Seth
AU - Alhassan, Yakubu
AU - Agyabeng, Kofi
AU - Asiedu-Bekoe, Franklin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Anthony Zunuo Dongdem et al.
PY - 2021/5/1
Y1 - 2021/5/1
N2 - Introduction: rubella is vaccine-preventable and vaccination is the most cost-effective approach to control the disease and avoid the management of congenital rubella syndrome cases. Ghana introduced the rubella vaccine into the routine immunization program in 2013. Since then there have not been any evaluation of the epidemiology of rubella. We determined the disease trends and the population demographics of rubella cases, in the Ghana national measles case-based surveillance system. Methods: we reviewed the measles case-based surveillance data from 2007 to 2017. Descriptive data statistics was done and expressed as frequencies and proportions. Chi-square test was used to establish associations. Results: a total of 11,483 suspected cases for measles received and tested for measles IgM antibodies and 1,137(12.98%) confirmed positive for the period. Of these 10,077 were negative and 250 indeterminate for measles and tested for rubella and 2,090 (20.23%) confirmed positive for rubella IgM antibodies. More females (21.45%) were affected than males (19.48%). Majority of the confirmed positives were recorded in the urban areas. Children aged 15 years or less were mostly affected. There was a statistical difference between incidence cases and sex (χ2=6.03, p-value = 0.014), or age (χ2=283.56, p-value <0.001) or area (χ2= 6.17, p-value = 0.013). Most infections occurred during the dry season. Conclusion: children less than 15 years were mostly affected with majority being females. The highest incidence of cases was before the rains and occurred mostly in urban areas. The incidence of cases has declined significantly with the introduction of the rubella vaccine.
AB - Introduction: rubella is vaccine-preventable and vaccination is the most cost-effective approach to control the disease and avoid the management of congenital rubella syndrome cases. Ghana introduced the rubella vaccine into the routine immunization program in 2013. Since then there have not been any evaluation of the epidemiology of rubella. We determined the disease trends and the population demographics of rubella cases, in the Ghana national measles case-based surveillance system. Methods: we reviewed the measles case-based surveillance data from 2007 to 2017. Descriptive data statistics was done and expressed as frequencies and proportions. Chi-square test was used to establish associations. Results: a total of 11,483 suspected cases for measles received and tested for measles IgM antibodies and 1,137(12.98%) confirmed positive for the period. Of these 10,077 were negative and 250 indeterminate for measles and tested for rubella and 2,090 (20.23%) confirmed positive for rubella IgM antibodies. More females (21.45%) were affected than males (19.48%). Majority of the confirmed positives were recorded in the urban areas. Children aged 15 years or less were mostly affected. There was a statistical difference between incidence cases and sex (χ2=6.03, p-value = 0.014), or age (χ2=283.56, p-value <0.001) or area (χ2= 6.17, p-value = 0.013). Most infections occurred during the dry season. Conclusion: children less than 15 years were mostly affected with majority being females. The highest incidence of cases was before the rains and occurred mostly in urban areas. The incidence of cases has declined significantly with the introduction of the rubella vaccine.
KW - Ghana
KW - Incidence
KW - Rubella
KW - Surveillance
KW - Trend
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113729170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.132.23297
DO - 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.132.23297
M3 - Article
C2 - 34527148
AN - SCOPUS:85113729170
SN - 1937-8688
VL - 39
JO - Pan African Medical Journal
JF - Pan African Medical Journal
M1 - 132
ER -