Clinical Infectious Diseases 2006;43:S158–S163
© 2006 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
1058-4838/2006/4309S3-0007$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/505949
SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE
Efforts at Rubella Elimination in the United States: The Impact of Hemispheric Rubella Control
Gustavo H. Dayan,1
Carlos Castillo‐Solórzano,2
Margarita Nava,3
Bradley S. Hersh,4
Jon Andrus,2
Romeo Rodríguez,3 and
Susan E. Reef1
1National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (proposed), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; 2Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC; 3National Center for the Health of Infants and Adolescents, Secretary of Health, Mexico DF, Mexico; and 4World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
We examined rubella vaccination trends, rubella surveillance, and disease patterns for the Americas, Mexico, and the United States, to evaluate the impact of hemispheric rubella control on rubella elimination in the United States during 1997–2004. In 1997, 130,375 rubella cases were reported in the Americas, with 38,042 reported in Mexico. Over the next 7 years, a rubella control initiative resulted in the administration of 
110 million rubella‐containing vaccine doses in Latin America, with 77.7 million doses administered within Mexico. By 2004, the number of reported rubella cases had declined to 3103 in the Americas and 698 in Mexico. Concurrently, the number of rubella cases in the United States fell from 817 during 1997–1999 to <25 cases/year from 2001 onward, with loss of seasonality and geographic clustering, despite no change in vaccination rates. Implementation of rubella control strategies in the Americas, particularly in Mexico, appears to have facilitated rubella elimination in the United States.
Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Gustavo H. Dayan or Dr. Susan E. Reef, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (proposed), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, MS A‐47, Atlanta, GA 30333 (
gdayan@cdc.gov or
sreef@cdc.gov).
Cited by
Charles W. LeBaron, Bagher Forghani, Carol Beck, Cedric Brown, Daoling Bi, Cynthia Cossen, and Bradley J. Sullivan. (2009) Persistence of Mumps Antibodies after 2 Doses of Measles‐Mumps‐Rubella Vaccine.
The Journal of Infectious Diseases 199:4, 552-560
Online publication date: 15-Feb-2009.
Sonja A. Rasmussen, J. David Erickson, Susan E. Reef, Danielle S. Ross. (2008) Teratology: From science to birth defects prevention.
Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology NA-NA
Online publication date: 1-Feb-2008.
CrossRef Joseph P. Icenogle, Teryl K. Frey, Emily Abernathy, Susan E. Reef, David Schnurr, and John A. Stewart. (2006) Genetic Analysis of Rubella Viruses Found in the United States between 1966 and 2004: Evidence That Indigenous Rubella Viruses Have Been Eliminated.
Clinical Infectious Diseases 43:s3, S133-S140
Online publication date: 1-Nov-2006.
Terri B. Hyde, Deanna Kruszon‐Moran, Geraldine M. McQuillan, Cynthia Cossen, Bagher Forghani, and Susan E. Reef. (2006) Rubella Immunity Levels in the United States Population: Has the Threshold of Viral Elimination Been Reached?.
Clinical Infectious Diseases 43:s3, S146-S150
Online publication date: 1-Nov-2006.
Susan E. Reef, Susan B. Redd, Emily Abernathy, Laura Zimmerman, and Joseph P. Icenogle. (2006) The Epidemiological Profile of Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome in the United States, 1998–2004: The Evidence for Absence of Endemic Transmission.
Clinical Infectious Diseases 43:s3, S126-S132
Online publication date: 1-Nov-2006.
