Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Otten, M. W.
Right arrow Articles by Gowers, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Otten, M. W., Jr.
Right arrow Articles by Gowers, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 135, No. 4: 381-392
Copyright © 1992 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

Epidemic Poliomyelitis in The Gambia following the Control of Poliomyelitis as an Endemic Disease

I. Descriptive Findings

Mac W. Otten, Jr.1, Michael S. Deming1, Kebba O. Jaiteh2, Elaine W. Flagg3, Ian Forgie4, Yaya Sanyang5, Babucarr Sillah2, Donna Brogan3 and Phillip Gowers2

1International Health Program Office, Centers for Disease Control Atlanta, GA.
2Medical and Health Department Banjul, The Gambia.
3Division of Biostatistics, Emory University School of Public Health Atlanta, GA.
4Medical Research Council Fajara, The Gambia
5World Health Organization Banjul, The Gambia.

Reprint requests to Information Services, Technical Support Division, International Health Program Office, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.

An epidemic of type 1 poliomyelitis involving 305 cases occurred in The Gambia (estimated 1986 population, 768,995) from May through November 1986, following a 6-year period when only five cases were reported. Cases were identified by physician reporting during the epidemic and by a national village-to-village search conducted after the epidemic. The national attack rate was 40 cases per 100,000 people. Cases lived in all parts of the country except the capital, Banjul. The peak month of the epidemic was August (139 cases). The highest attack rate by year of age was in 1-year-old children (394 cases per 100,000 persons), and 75% of cases were 3 years of age or less. A vaccination coverage survey showed that 64% (95% confidence interval 60–68) of 1- to 2-year-old children were vaccinated with at least three doses of trivalent oral polio vaccine at the beginning of the epidemic. Fifty-seven cases became paralyzed more than 2 weeks after a national mass campaign in which 95% of children 1–7 years old were reported to have received a dose of trivalent oral polio vaccine. Experience in The Gambia shows that a several-year period of excellent control of endemic poliomyelitis by a vaccination program can be followed by a major epidemic and that a mass vaccination campaign may be only partially successful in ending the epidemic. Am J Epidemiol 1992;135:381-92.

poliomyelitis; poliovirus vaccine; oral


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.