Seroprevalence of antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella among Thai population: evaluation of measles/MMR immunization programme.

Stored serum specimens, from four regions of Thailand, of healthy children attending well baby clinics and of healthy people with acute illnesses visiting outpatient clinics were randomly sampled and tested for IgG antibody to measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). The immunity patterns of rubella and mumps fitted well with the history of rubella and MMR vaccination, seroprotective rates being over 85% among those aged over seven years. A high proportion of younger children acquired the infection before the age of vaccination. MMR vaccination should preferably be given to children at an earlier age. For measles, 73% seroprotective rates among children, aged 8-14 years, who should have received two doses of measles/MMR vaccine, were lower than expected. This finding was consistent with the age-group reported in outbreaks of measles in Thailand. The apparent ineffectiveness (in relation to measles) of MMR immunization of 1st grade students warrants further studies.

Seroepidemiology and genotypes of hepatitis C virus in Thailand.

HCV can be classified into 6 major genotypes based on the phylogenetic analysis of the genomic sequences. The 3 major genotypes found in Thailand are 3, 1 and 6, respectively. In 2004, an epidemiological survey was carried out to evaluate the seroprevalence of HCV infections among populations aged 2-60 years in four provinces of Thailand, representing the North, Northeast, Center and South of the country, respectively. One hundred and twenty five out of 5,825 serum samples (2.15%) were positive for anti-HCV by ELISA. Fifty eight out of 100 anti-HCV positive samples (58.0%) were positive by RT-PCR of the 5'UTR. The core region of 45 representative samples was sequenced allowing classification into genotype variants 1a (6.7%), 1b (26.7%), 2a (2.2%), 2c (2.2%), 3a (51.1%), 3b (2.2%) and 6 (8.9%). This information might be crucial for public health surveillance and prevention of HCV infection.

Seroprevalence of tetanus antibody in the Thai population: a national survey.

Tetanus is a disease with high mortality and the most important measure for effective prevention is vaccination. Tetanus immunization has been introduced to Thailand's national immunization program for 30 years. Yet, the coverage and seroprevalence of tetanus antibody in vast parts of the population has not been assessed. This study has been performed on 1,277 subjects aged between 6 months and 60 years or above from four geographically distinct provinces of Thailand. Tetanus antibody levels were measured using a commercially available ELISA kit. Most of the Thai population had immunity against tetanus. The level of antibodies to tetanus, as demonstrated by the geometric mean titer of antibody (GMT) (and 95% confidence interval) was 2.62 (2.34-2.91) IU/ml. The highest and lowest GMT was found in subjects aged between 5 and 9 years, and above 60 years of age with GMT (and 95% confidence intervals) of 3.64 (3.34-3.96) and 1.24 (0.67-2.29) IU/ml respectively. The minimum protective level of antitoxin (>0.01 IU/ml) was detected in 99.7 % of subjects. More than 90% of subjects displayed durable antibody protection levels (DAPL) (> or = 1.0 IU/ml), except for subjects above the age of 60 years (82%). According to this study, the majority of the population expresses tetanus antibody levels that can confer long term protection. Yet, considering the lowest GMT and the highest incidence of tetanus cases found in subjects aged above 60 years, re-immunization should be targeted at this age group especially if they had sustained any tetanus-prone injury.