Burden, epidemiological pattern, and surveillance gap of rubella in Nigeria: A call for routine vaccination policy

Abstract

Rubella is an epidemic-prone disease with endemic transmission in Nigeria. It is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the rubella virus whose devastating teratogenic effect makes it a disease of major public health importance when it occurs in pregnancy leading to congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in infants. This article seeks to do a review of the burden, epidemiology, and examine the rubella surveillance gap in Nigeria. This is a review of literatures and the use of available World Health Organization secondary surveillance data to establish the burden, epidemiological pattern, and surveillance gap of rubella in Nigeria. Data were analyzed and presented with appropriate tables and charts. Epidemiologically, rubella occurs worldwide with seasonal variation. Available data from two geo-political zones (North-central and Southwest) of Nigeria showed that the peak incidence of rubella occur in the first 4 months of the year with most of the cases occurring in those <15 years and cuts across the rural and urban areas. Rubella and CRS are neglected diseases with no distinct surveillance system in place, no national incidence figure and no vaccination policy. The surveillance of rubella is integrated with that of measles with a noticeable poor case detection as only measles-negative blood samples are tested for rubella not minding the possibility of measles-rubella co-infection. With no national incidence figure and the gap in surveillance, rubella is under-reported in Nigeria. There is a need for a bridge of the surveillance gap and the government should have routine vaccination policy on rubella introduced in Nigeria.

Keywords

• epidemiology
• nigeria
• rubella
• surveillance
• vaccination