Objective To describe the incidence and epidemiological trends of rubella in Zhabei District, Shanghai, so as to provide scientific evidence for formulating vaccination strategies for rubella.
Methods Descriptive epidemiology was used to analyze the national surveillance data on rubella in Zhabei District from 1990-2012.
Results A total of 9003 cases of rubella were reported during 1990-2012, and the annual incidence rate of rubella was 52.75/100 000. The most yearly reported rubella patients were in 1993 and 8 856 cases were recorded, with an incidence rate of 1 315.45/100 000. There was no rubella case reported during 2007-2008. The male-to-female ratio of rubella patients was 1:1.04. Children aged 5-14 years old accounted for 73.68% of the total cases, and the leading case groups were kids in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. Two seasonal peaks of rubella occurrence were observed including winter-spring and spring-summer. No geographical aggregation tendency was seen in terms of the case geo-distribution. The incidence of rubella cases has been greatly reduced since rubella containing vaccines were used:57 cases of rubella were reported during 1995-2012, and the proportions of patients aged 0-4 years and 20-years in the total cases were increased.
Conclusion Vaccination is an effective approach for rubella control and prevention, and has changed the age distribntion of total rubella cases. It is important to formulate effective vaccination strategies for preventing adult rubella cases, especially among women of childbearing age, to reduce the incidence of congenital rubella syndrome.
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