Longitudinal serological study of rubella immunity in South Yorkshire

Seroepidemiological study of the transmission of the mumps virus in St. Lucia, West Indies

A seroepidemiological study of the prevalence of mumps virus specific antibodies reveals a pattern of endemic persistence on the island of St Lucia in the West Indies. In the unvaccinated population the proportion seropositive rose rapidly in the child age classes to attain a stable plateau close to unity in value in the teenage and adult age groups. The average age at infection was estimated to be between 3 and 4 years of age and the average duration of detectable levels of maternally derived antibodies was approximately 3 months. Analyses based on mathematical models of the transmission dynamics of the virus suggest that in excess of 75% of each cohort of 1- to 2-year-old children must be effectively immunized to eliminate mumps virus transmission. A mumps radial haemolysis test, developed for quantitative measurements of antibody, is discussed.

The use of mathematical models in the epidemiological study of infectious diseases and in the design of mass immunization programmes

Community-based immunization is the primary method available today by which to reduce the scale of morbidity, and, in certain countries, mortality, associated with the most common childhood viral and bacterial infections. The decline in the incidences of a number of important vaccine preventable infections, such as polio, diphtheria and measles, in many countries, and the worldwide eradication of the smallpox virus, is testimony to the effectiveness of this method of control.