Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume 210, Issue 12, 2014, Pages 1863-1870

Measles outbreak response among adolescent and adult Somali refugees displaced by famine in Kenya and Ethiopia, 2011 (Article) (Open Access)

Navarro-Colorado C.* , Mahamud A. , Burton A. , Haskew C. , Maina G.K. , Wagacha J.B. , Ahmed J.A. , Shetty S. , Cookson S. , Goodson J.L. , Schilperoord M. , Spiegel P.
  • a Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop F-60, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States
  • b Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop F-60, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States, Centers for Disease Control, Nairobi, Kenya
  • c United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Nairobi, Kenya, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Amman, Jordan
  • d UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • e UNHCR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • f United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Nairobi, Kenya
  • g UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland, CDC, Nairobi, Kenya
  • h Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop F-60, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States, Doctors Without Borders, Rangoon/Yangon, Myanmar
  • i Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop F-60, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States
  • j Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop F-60, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States
  • k UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • l UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland

Abstract

Background: The refugee complexes of Dadaab, Kenya, and Dollo-Ado, Ethiopia, experienced measles outbreaks during June-November 2011, following a large influx of refugees from Somalia. Methods: Line-lists from health facilities were used to describe the outbreak in terms of age, sex, vaccination status, arrival date, attack rates (ARs), and case fatality ratios (CFRs) for each camp. Vaccination data and coverage surveys were reviewed. Results: In Dadaab, 1370 measles cases and 32 deaths (CFR, 2.3%) were reported. A total of 821 cases (60.1%) were aged ≥15 years, 906 (82.1%) arrived to the camps in 2011, and 1027 (79.6%) were unvaccinated. Camp-specific ARs ranged from 212 to 506 cases per 100 000 people. In Dollo-Ado, 407 cases and 23 deaths (CFR, 5.7%) were reported. Adults aged ≥15 years represented 178 cases (43.7%) and 6 deaths (26.0%). Camp-specific ARs ranged from 21 to 1100 cases per 100 000 people. Immunization activities that were part of the outbreak responses initially targeted children aged 6 months to 14 years and were later expanded to include individuals up to 30 years of age. Conclusions: The target age group for outbreak response-associated immunization activities at the start of the outbreaks was inconsistent with the numbers of cases among unvaccinated adolescents and adults in the new population. In displacement of populations from areas affected by measles outbreaks, health authorities should consider vaccinating adults in routine and outbreak response activities. © The Author 2014.

Author Keywords

Population displacement Acute malnutrition adults measles famine Vaccination Refugees Mortality

Index Keywords

refugee sex ratio human trend study Refugees middle aged priority journal Aged Kenya starvation disease surveillance Young Adult school child Humans Adolescent Infant, Newborn male preschool child Aged, 80 and over Infant very elderly Child, Preschool measles vaccination newborn female Disease Outbreaks Article epidemic Ethiopia measles vaccine fatality major clinical study adult Somalia population exposure utilization age distribution vaccination cause of death measles mortality Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84925545132&doi=10.1093%2finfdis%2fjiu395&partnerID=40&md5=7b283579985797fe8b04b20c8e4967ab
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiu395
ISSN: 00221899
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English