Congenital Rubella Syndrome Surveillance in South Africa Using a Sentinel Site Approach: A Cross-sectional Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) includes disorders associated with intrauterine rubella infection. Incidence of CRS is higher in countries with no rubella-containing vaccines (RCV) in their immunization schedules. In the World Health Organization African region, RCVs are being introduced as part of the 2012-2020 global measles and rubella strategic plan. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of confirmed CRS in South Africa prior to introduction of RCVs in the immunization schedule.

Methods

This was a descriptive study with 28 sentinel sites reporting laboratory-confirmed CRS cases in all 9 provinces of South Africa. In the retrospective phase (2010 to 2014), CRS cases were retrieved from medical records, and in the prospective phase (2015 to 2017) clini

SUBMITTER: Motaze NV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6495013 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature