Abstract
In order to ascertain the epidemiology of rubella infections in Austria, a seroepidemiological study was performed. Data collected from 115 cases diagnosed at the Institute of Hygiene and Social Medicine of the University of Innsbruck during 2001 were evaluated. The results indicate this infection can no longer be categorised as a paediatric disease (mean age, 18.5 years), and several other findings were particularly striking: (i) 47% of the patients had elevated C-reactive protein levels and 50% had increased anti-streptolysin O titres; (ii) only a few patients complained of fever, while symptoms such as rash and lymphadenopathy, which are also associated with several other viral infections, including HIV, were found frequently; and (iii) the 115 rubella cases detected in the 1-year study period represented an incidence of >13 per 100,000 population. This high incidence of infection underlines the need for further improvement of diagnostic tests and more successful vaccine strategies.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the medical technical assistants from the virological–serological laboratory for their support in performing ELISAs and hemagglutination inhibition tests. Further, we thank the participating doctors and their patients for their cooperation. Special thanks go to Dr M. Sarcletti, Innsbruck, for his input concerning the differential diagnosis of HIV and to S. Falkensammer for secretarial support.
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Falkensammer, B., Walder, G., Busch, D. et al. Epidemiology of rubella infections in Austria: important lessons to be learned. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 23, 502–505 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-004-1138-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-004-1138-0