Estimating transmission intensity for a measles epidemic in Niamey, Niger: lessons for intervention.
Affiliation
Epicentre, 8 rue Saint Sabin, 75011 Paris, France. rebecca.grais@epicentre.msf.orgIssue Date
2006-09
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The objective of this study is to estimate the effective reproductive ratio for the 2003-2004 measles epidemic in Niamey, Niger. Using the results of a retrospective and prospective study of reported cases within Niamey during the 2003-2004 epidemic, we estimate the basic reproductive ratio, effective reproductive ratio (RE) and minimal vaccination coverage necessary to avert future epidemics using a recent method allowing for estimation based on the epidemic case series. We provide these estimates for geographic areas within Niamey, thereby identifying neighbourhoods at high risk. The estimated citywide RE was 2.8, considerably lower than previous estimates, which may help explain the long duration of the epidemic. Transmission intensity varied during the course of the epidemic and within different neighbourhoods (RE range: 1.4-4.7). Our results indicate that vaccination coverage in currently susceptible children should be increased by at least 67% (vaccine efficacy 90%) to produce a citywide vaccine coverage of 90%. This research highlights the importance of local differences in vaccination coverage on the potential impact of epidemic control measures. The spatial-temporal spread of the epidemic from district to district in Niamey over 30 weeks suggests that targeted interventions within the city could have an impact.Publisher
ElsevierPubMed ID
16540134Additional Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00359203Language
enISSN
0035-9203ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.10.014