Control of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in developing countries, Part 1: Burden of disease from CRS
Cutts, F.T.; Robertson, S.E.; Diaz-Ortega, J.L.; Samuel, R.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 75(1): 55-68
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-9686 PMID: 9141751 Document Number: 531690
Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) can lead to deafness, heart disease, and cataracts, and a variety of other permanent manifestations. In developing countries, the burden of CRS has been assessed as follows: by surveillance of CRS; by surveillance of acquired rubella; by age-stratified serosurveys; and by serosurveys documenting the rubella susceptibility of women of childbearing age. During rubella outbreaks, rates of CRS per 1000 live births were at least 1.7 in Israel, 1.7 in Jamaica, 0.7 in Oman, 2.2 in Panama, 1.5 in Singapore, 0.9 in Sri Lanka, and 0.6 in Trinidad and Tobago. These rates are similar to those reported from industrialized countries during the pre-vaccine era. Special studies of CRS have been reported from all WHO regions. Rubella surveillance data show that epidemics occur every 4-7 years, similar to the situation in Europe during the pre-vaccination era. In developing countries, the estimated average age at infection varies from 2-3 years to 8 years. For 45 developing countries we identified serosurveys of women of childbearing age that had enrolled gtoreq 100 individuals. The proportion of women who remained susceptible to rubella (e.g. seronegative) was lt 10% in 13 countries, 10-24% in 20 countries, and gtoreq 25% in 12 countries. Discussed are methods to improve the surveillance of rubella and CRS in developing countries.