Progress towards rubella elimination after implementation of rubella immunization for over 20 years in Shandong province China.

Tuesday, 9th of January 2018

Sci Rep. 2017 Dec 21;7(1):17982. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-18281-2.

Progress towards rubella elimination after implementation of rubella immunization for over 20 years in Shandong province China.

Wang C¹ Zhu Z² Xu Q¹ Fang X¹ Liu X¹ Xiong P¹ Song L¹ Xu W³⁴ Xu A⁵.

Author information

1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention No. 16992 Jingshi Road Jinan 250014 Peoples Republic of China.

2. WHO WPRO Regional Reference Measles/Rubella Laboratory and Key Laboratory of Medical Virology Ministry of Health National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention No.155 Changbai Road Changping District Beijing 102206 Peoples Republic of China.

3. WHO WPRO Regional Reference Measles/Rubella Laboratory and Key Laboratory of Medical Virology Ministry of Health National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention No.155 Changbai Road Changping District Beijing 102206 Peoples Republic of China. wenbo_xu1@aliyun.com.

4. Medical school Anhui University of Science and Technology Huainan 232001 Peoples Republic of China. wenbo_xu1@aliyun.com.

5. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention No. 16992 Jingshi Road Jinan 250014 Peoples Republic of China. aqxuepi@163.com.

Abstract

The rubella vaccine has been included in the immunization program in Shandong province of China since 1995. Here we observed the rubella vaccine coverage epidemiology serosurvey and virological surveillance data in order to identify the challenges impeding the progress towards to its elimination following the implementation of rubella immunization over a 21-year period in Shandong province. We first noted that the annual increase in vaccination coverage resulted in decreased rate of rubella incidence which was maintained at a low level. Second the average age of rubella patients had shifted to the 15-29-year age group making this group the main population affected by the rubella virus (RV). Third more than 90% of the study population were immune to rubella. However the positive rate of rubella IgG in some cities was relatively lower indicating that an insufficient proportion of individuals had been vaccinated. Finally the transmission of the genotype 1E RV was gradually interrupted due to the implementation of rubella vaccination. Unfortunately the endemicity of the imported genotype 2B RV was established due to the pockets with unvaccinated people. Therefore comprehensive vaccination coverage of the population combined with high quality monitoring of rubella is necessary to achieve the rubella elimination goal.

PMID:

29269776

PMCID:

PMC5740145

DOI:

10.1038/s41598-017-18281-2