Verification of measles elimination in Australia: Application of World Health Organization regional guidelines

H.F. Gidding; N.V. Martin; V. Stambos; T. Tran; A. Dey; G.K. Dowse; H.A. Kelly; D.N. Durrheim; S.B. Lambert

doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2015.12.004

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Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2016, Pages 197 - 209

Verification of measles elimination in Australia: Application of World Health Organization regional guidelines

Authors

H.F. Gidding^a^{, b}^{, *}^,hgidding@unsw.edu, N.V. Martin^c, V. Stambos^d, T. Tran^d, A. Dey^b^{, e}, G.K. Dowse^f, H.A. Kelly^d^{, g}, D.N. Durrheim^h, S.B. Lambertⁱ^{, j}^{, k}

^aSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, Australia

^bNational Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, The Children’s Hospital Network, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

^cOffice of Health Protection, Department of Health, Canberra, Australia

^dVictorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, Australia

^eThe University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

^fCommunicable Disease Control Directorate, Department of Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

^gAustralian National University, Canberra, Australia

^hSchool of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

ⁱQueensland Children’s Medical Research Institute, Children’s Hospital and Health Service, Queensland Health, Australia

^jUQ Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Australia

^kCommunicable Diseases Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, Australia

^*Corresponding author at: School of Public Health & Community Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Kensington Campus, Sydney, New South Wales 2031, Australia. Tel.: +61 (2) 9385 2445.

Corresponding Author

H.F. Giddinghgidding@unsw.edu

Received 22 October 2015, Revised 16 December 2015, Accepted 24 December 2015, Available Online 27 January 2016.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.12.004 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Disease elimination; Measles; Surveillance
Abstract: Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region (WPR) Guidelines on verification of measles elimination were established in 2012. This article outlines Australia’s approach to addressing the guideline’s five lines of evidence, which led to formal verification of elimination by the WHO Regional Verification Commission (RVC) in March 2014.

Methods: The criteria were addressed using national measles notifications, data from selected laboratories, the national childhood immunization register, and three national serosurveys (1998/1999, 2002, 2007).

Results: Australia met or exceeded all indicator targets with either national or sentinel data. Laboratory and epidemiological surveillance were of high quality, with 85% of cases documented as imported/import-related (target 80%); coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine was close to 94% in 2008–2012 and second dose coverage increased to 91% in 2012 (target >95%). There is ongoing commitment by the Australian Government to increase immunization coverage, and the absence of sustained transmission of any single measles genotype was demonstrated.

Conclusions: This is the first documentation of the successful application of the WPR RVC guidelines. The indicators afford some flexibility but appear to provide appropriate rigor to judge achievement of measles elimination. Our experience could assist other countries seeking to verify their elimination status.
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue: 6 - 3
Pages: 197 - 209
Publication Date: 2016/01/27
ISSN (Online): 2210-6014
ISSN (Print): 2210-6006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.12.004 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - JOUR
AU  - H.F. Gidding
AU  - N.V. Martin
AU  - V. Stambos
AU  - T. Tran
AU  - A. Dey
AU  - G.K. Dowse
AU  - H.A. Kelly
AU  - D.N. Durrheim
AU  - S.B. Lambert
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/01/27
TI  - Verification of measles elimination in Australia: Application of World Health Organization regional guidelines
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 197
EP  - 209
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2015.12.004
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.12.004
ID  - Gidding2016
ER  -

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