COMMUNITY-BASED MEASLES MORTALITY SURVEILLANCE IN TWO DISTRICTS OF KATANGA PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Sunday, 2nd of March 2014

[source]BMC Research Notes[|source]

Measuring measles mortality can be difficult, and estimates of measles case fatality ratios vary widely depending on the context. Retrospective mortality surveys can be time and resource intensive, and not always feasible in low-income and crisis settings.

In this report, the authors describe a community-based measles mortality surveillance system put in place at the height of the measles epidemic that affected Katanga Province in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The paper shows that by implementing active, community-based measles mortality surveillance, a greater number of reported measles deaths are detected/recorded during this measles epidemic. Details of the system set up and variations in reported number of cases between passive and active surveillance systems for measles in outbreaks are accessible at:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3878486/

 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mortality due to measles is often under-reported. Traditional methods of measuring mortality can be time and resource-intensive. We describe the implementation of a community-based method to monitor measles mortality.

FINDINGS: Using standardized questionnaires in the midst of a measles outbreak, a community-based network of volunteers recorded a much larger number of deaths (376) than deaths recorded in health centres (27). Deaths were predominantly (93.5%) among children aged less than 5 years; 54.5% of measles deaths reported antecedent measles vaccination.

 

CONCLUSIONS: In this setting, the number of deaths due to measles reported in community-based surveillance was much higher than deaths reported in health centres. Lack of reliable population data and incomplete coverage of the surveillance system make it impossible to calculate overall attack rates and cause-specific mortality rates. Similar systems could be rapidly implemented in other difficult outbreak settings.