Negative impact of clinical misdiagnosis of measles on health workers' confidence in measles vaccine

We conducted a survey to determine the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of measles in Zimbabwe. Between December 1996 and February 1997, we collected blood samples and clinical and demographic information from a sample of 105 children with a clinical diagnosis of measles. A clinical case of measle...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Epidemiology and infection Vol. 132; no. 1; pp. 7 - 10
Main Authors:	HELFAND, R. F., CHIBI, T., BIELLIK, R., SHEARLEY, A., BELLINI, W. J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-02-2004
Subjects:	Adolescent Antibodies Antibodies, Viral - blood Applied microbiology Attitude of Health Personnel Attitude to Health Biological and medical sciences Child Child, Preschool Children Clinical Laboratory Techniques - standards Developing Countries Diagnostic Errors - statistics & numerical data Epidemiology Exanthema Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Human viral diseases Humans Immunization Immunoenzyme Techniques - standards Immunoglobulin A - blood Immunoglobulin M - blood Incidence Infant Infections Infectious diseases Laboratories Measles Measles - blood Measles - diagnosis Measles - epidemiology Measles - prevention & control Measles Vaccine - standards Measles vaccines Measles virus Measles virus - immunology Medical sciences Microbiology Negativism Physical Examination - standards Rubella Rubella - blood Rubella - diagnosis Rubella - epidemiology Rubella - prevention & control Rubella virus Rubella virus - immunology Rural Health - statistics & numerical data Sensitivity and Specificity Vaccination Vaccination - standards Vaccination - statistics & numerical data Vaccines Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies (general aspects) Viral diseases Viral diseases with cutaneous or mucosal lesions and viral diseases of the eye Viruses Zimbabwe - epidemiology Zimbabwe Harare Zimbabwe United States > US Africa Infection Vaccine Microbiology Epidemiology Viral disease Measles
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	We conducted a survey to determine the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of measles in Zimbabwe. Between December 1996 and February 1997, we collected blood samples and clinical and demographic information from a sample of 105 children with a clinical diagnosis of measles. A clinical case of measles was defined as a person with a history of fever, rash for three or more days, and either cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis. A laboratory-confirmed case of measles or rubella had IgM antibodies against measles virus or rubella virus respectively. A total of 91% of children met the clinical case definition. Among those who met the clinical case definition for measles, 72% were IgM-positive for measles virus only, 23% were IgM-positive for rubella virus only, 3% were IgM-positive for both measles and rubella viruses, and 2% were IgM-negative for both viruses. This study demonstrates the importance of considering selective laboratory confirmation of measles in periods of high disease incidence when the effectiveness of the vaccine is questioned.
Bibliography:	istex:EDD0D349D8AB5B7C34E14CFF26CA01DC12D15FD6 PII:S0950268803001547 ark:/67375/6GQ-1TC644N6-X ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0950-2688 1469-4409
DOI:	10.1017/S0950268803001547