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Immunity to measles in female immigrants and refugees
susceptibilty to measles, mumps and rubella in newly arrived migrants and refugees
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Taufiek K Rajab, MB BChir Imperial College London, Lubna Jama Barre
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taufiek.rajab{at}imperial.ac.uk Taufiek K Rajab, et al.
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In their study population of recent immigrants and refugees Greenaway and colleagues found that women were more likely than men to be susceptible to measles (1). From this data they infer that immigrant women had higher odds of being immune to measles compared with immigrant men. However we draw the opposite conclusion from this data, namely that women in the study population had higher odds of being nonimmune to measles. 1. Greenaway C, Dongier P, Boivin J, Tapiero B, Miller M, Schwartzman K. Susceptibility to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella in Newly Arrived Adult Immigrants and Refugees. Ann Intern Med. 2007; 146:20-24 Conflict of Interest:None declared |
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Adrian K Thomas, MD FRANZCOG Deafness Foundation, Victoria, Australia P.O. Box 42, Nunawading, Victoria, Australia 3121, Barbara Francis, Monica Haverkamp
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athomas{at}melbpc.org.au Adrian K Thomas, et al.
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Our own experience is similar to that of Greenaway, at least in respect of rubella. In an extensive study, over 25 years of 65,227 records of pregnant and non-pregnant women attending a public teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and where 44% of the women were born overseas, we showed that women born in developing countries, especially nulliparous Asian women <30 years of age had significantly increased odds of being susceptible to rubella compared to Australian born women (1). In 2000, the last year of our study, women born in sub-Saharan Africa and South America, in addition to Asian-born women, had five times the odds of being seronegative compared to all other women in the study. This increased susceptibility is reflected in the fact that in Australia for the years 1993 - 2003, of the 28 cases of congenital rubella infection, nine of the mothers had nationalities other than Australian, and six of these were known to have been born overseas (2). These findings also show that current vaccination programmes do not adequately serve immigrant women from developing countries where rubella vaccination is not widely practiced. Furthermore, the potential exists for importation of disease by unvaccinated locals who have been infected while travelling in these countries, such as happened in Indiana in 2005 when 34 cases of measles were caused by one unvaccinated US resident returning home (3). We believe that the most efficient and effective way of addressing this issue is for prospective migrants and refugees to be informed about rubella and other vaccine preventable diseases and formally offered vaccination if there are no contraindications, as part of their pre-entry health assessment. We do not believe it is necessary to make such vaccination a pre-requisite for entry to the country – in a rubella education/ vaccination program targeting Vietnamese refugees during 1989 – 1991 only two patients declined to be vaccinated out of 791 who were offered it (4). We believe there is a lack of knowledge about the dangers of the infections rather than opposition to vaccination. Since 1983 the Deafness Foundation (Victoria, Australia) with the support of the Victorian State Government, has been conducting an on-going rubella prevention/education program amongst migrant and refugee women in Melbourne using materials developed in a range of languages, (pamphlets in 18 languages, posters in 5 languages and videos in 14 languages). This information is well received and we would be most willing to share our experiences with other interested parties. We also believe that a forceful but voluntary policy on vaccinations should be implemented for travellers departing developed countries, similar to that recommended by the Public Health Agency of Canada in response to the requirements recently implemented by the Venezuelan Government (which they have made compulsory), for those travelling outside the Americas (5). References 1.Francis B H, Thomas AK, McCarthy CA. The impact of rubella immunization on the serological status of women of childbearing age: a retrospective study in Melbourne, Australia. Am J Public Health 2003 1274 -1276 2.Forrest JM, Burgess M, Donovan T A. A resurgence of congenital rubella in Australia? Communicable Diseases Intelligence 2003; 27:533-536 3.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measles- United States, 2005. Morb Mort Wkly Rep 2006 Dec 22;55(50): 1348-51. 4.Yeates K. Vietnamese rubella education program 1989-1991. Deafness Foundation Victoria, 1992. Nunawading, Victoria, Australia 3121. 5.Public Health agency of Canada. Travel Health Advisory. Measles and rubella Vaccination Departure Requirements – Venezuela. http://www.phac_asp.gc.ca/tmp-pmv/2006/measvene060519_e.html Conflict of Interest:None declared |
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ois Boivin, Bruce Tapiero, Mark Miller, and Kevin Schwartzman
