| Title | Negative impact of clinical misdiagnosis of measles on health workers' confidence in measles vaccine. | | Author(s) | Helfand RF, Chibi T, Biellik R, Shearley A, Bellini WJ | | Institution | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. | | Source | Epidemiol Infect 2004 Jan; 132(1):7-10. | | MeSH | Adolescent
Antibodies, Viral
Attitude of Health Personnel
Attitude to Health
Child
Child, Preschool
Developing Countries
Diagnostic Errors
Humans
Immunoenzyme Techniques
Immunoglobulin A
Immunoglobulin M
Incidence
Infant
Laboratory Techniques and Procedures
Measles
Measles Vaccine
Measles virus
Negativism
Physical Examination
Rubella
Rubella virus
Rural Health
Sensitivity and Specificity
Vaccination
Zimbabwe
| | Abstract | 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. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
Validation Studies
| | PubMed ID | 14979583 |
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