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Mumps and rubella: a year of enhanced surveillance and laboratory testing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2004

R. J. GUY ,
R. M. ANDREWS ,
H. A. KELLY ,
J. A. LEYDON ,
M. A. RIDDELL ,
S. B. LAMBERT  and
M. G. CATTON
R. J. GUY
Affiliation:
Communicable Diseases Section, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division, Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Masters of Applied Epidemiology Program, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
R. M. ANDREWS
Affiliation:
Communicable Diseases Section, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division, Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
H. A. KELLY
Affiliation:
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
J. A. LEYDON
Affiliation:
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
M. A. RIDDELL
Affiliation:
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
S. B. LAMBERT
Affiliation:
Masters of Applied Epidemiology Program, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
M. G. CATTON
Affiliation:
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Abstract

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In Victoria (Australia) surveillance for mumps and rubella has historically been passive, with most notified cases clinically diagnosed. In July 2001, the Victorian Department of Human Services implemented an enhanced surveillance system focusing on improved laboratory testing. We tested 85% of notifications and only 9% of all mumps and 27% of rubella notifications were laboratory confirmed. While most notified cases were children who had been clinically diagnosed, we found most laboratory-confirmed cases were in adults. The positive predictive value of the clinical case definition was low: mumps (10%); rubella (22%). These results highlight the value of laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis when mumps and rubella are rare, failure to do so is likely to overestimate disease incidence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 132 , Issue 3 , June 2004 , pp. 391 - 398
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press