Department of Health Studies, University of South Africa, Tshwane, South Africa.
Department of Paediatrics, Maseru Regional Hospital, Maseru, Lesotho.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Oct 18;24(1):2874. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20081-z.
The rubella virus is a major contributor to birth defects globally and is preventable by vaccination. In 2020, the world was supposed to be free of both rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) however this goal has yet to be realized with only 93 out of 194 WHO member states confirmed rubella-free in 2020.
A retrospective measles and rubella case-based surveillance data record review was conducted from 2018 to 2022 to document rubella epidemiology after the introduction of rubella vaccination in Lesotho and progress toward elimination. All samples submitted for surveillance purposes and tested for rubella were considered but only filtered according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.
Of the 1041 samples that were tested for rubella between 2018 and 2022, 10 (1%) were confirmed measles positive and were excluded from further analysis. The median age of the respondents was 6.0 (IQR 4.0-8.0.) years. About 643 (62.4%) of respondents were in the age category of 5 - <13 years. Rubella prevalence was 1% (95% CI; 0.5 -1.8%). The non-measles, non-rubella rash illness rate of 2 per 100 000 population was obtained at the national level each year of the study period but by only 2 of the country's 10 districts in 2021.
The study showed low rubella prevalence. Rubella infection was predominant in those aged 5 - < 13 years. Failure to meet surveillance targets at certain time points during the study period may have led to an underestimation of rubella cases. There is a need to improve the quality of measles and rubella surveillance in Lesotho. Supplementary immunization activities would also be useful in closing immunity gaps, limiting outbreaks, and advancing rubella and CRS elimination in Lesotho.
风疹病毒是导致全球出生缺陷的主要原因之一，可以通过接种疫苗预防。2020 年，全球本应实现无风疹和先天性风疹综合征（CRS），但这一目标尚未实现，2020 年仅 93 个世界卫生组织成员国确认无风疹。
对 2018 年至 2022 年基于麻疹和风疹病例的回顾性监测数据记录进行了审查，以记录莱索托引入风疹疫苗后的风疹流行病学情况以及消除工作的进展情况。所有为监测目的提交并检测风疹的样本均被考虑，但仅根据纳入和排除标准进行过滤。采用描述性统计方法对数据进行分析。
在 2018 年至 2022 年期间检测的 1041 个风疹样本中，有 10 个（1%）麻疹检测呈阳性，被排除在进一步分析之外。应答者的中位年龄为 6.0（IQR 4.0-8.0）岁。约 643 名（62.4%）应答者年龄在 5-<13 岁之间。风疹的流行率为 1%（95%CI；0.5-1.8%）。每年研究期间，全国的非麻疹、非风疹出疹性疾病发病率为每 10 万人 2 例，但 2021 年仅 10 个地区中的 2 个地区达到了这一目标。
研究表明风疹的流行率较低。风疹感染主要发生在 5-<13 岁人群中。在研究期间的某些时间点未达到监测目标可能导致对风疹病例的低估。需要提高莱索托的麻疹和风疹监测质量。补充免疫活动也将有助于缩小免疫差距，限制疫情爆发，并推进莱索托的风疹和 CRS 消除工作。
