Public health policy and practice
Dramatic decline of serogroup C meningococcal disease incidence
in Catalonia (Spain) 24 months after a mass vaccination programme of
children and young people
L Sallerasa, A Domíngueza, G Pratsb, I Parrona, P Muñozc
a General Directorate
of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Security, Generalitat
de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, b Department of Microbiology,
Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain, c Department of Statistics and Operational
Research, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Correspondence to: Professor Salleras i Sanmartí, Departament de Sanitat i Seguretat Social, Travessera de les Corts, 131-159, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Accepted for publication 27 October 2000
STUDY OBJECTIVES
The
objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mass
vaccination programme carried out in Catalonia (Spain) in the last
quarter of 1997 in response to an upsurge of serogroup C meningococcal
disease (SCMD).
DESIGNVaccination
coverage in the 18 month to 19 years age group was investigated by
means of a specific vaccination register. Vaccination effectiveness was
calculated using the prospective cohort method. Cases of SCMD were
identified on the basis of compulsory reporting and microbiological
notification by hospital laboratories. Vaccination histories were
investigated in all cases. Unadjusted and age adjusted vaccination
effectiveness referred to the time of vaccination and the corresponding
95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of follow up.
SETTINGAll population
aged 18 months to 19 years of Catalonia.
MAIN RESULTSA total
of seven cases of SCMD were detected at six months of follow up (one in
the vaccinated cohort), 12 cases at 12 months (one in the vaccinated
cohort), 19 cases at 18 months (two in the vaccinated cohort) and 24 at
24 months (two in the vaccinated cohort). The age adjusted
effectiveness was 84% (95%CI 30, 97) at six months, 92% (95%CI 63, 98) at 12 months, 92% (95% CI 71, 98) at 18 months and 94% (95%CI
78, 98) at 24 months. In the target population, cases have been reduced
by more than two thirds (68%) two years after the vaccination
programme. In the total population the reduction was 43%.
CONCLUSIONVaccination
effectiveness has been high in Catalonia, with a dramatic reduction in
disease incidence in the vaccinated cohort accompanied by a relevant
reduction in the overall population. Given that vaccination coverage
was only 54.6%, it may be supposed that this vaccination effectiveness
is attributable, in part, to the herd immunity conferred by the vaccine.
Keywords: serogroup C; meningococcal disease; vaccination; mass campaign
© 2001 by Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
