Population level immunity to measles and rubella 5 years before and after the MR campaign in urban Vellore, South India
5 affiliations
- 1The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
- 2Department of Child Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
- 3Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
- 4Department of Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
- 5Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
Abstract
India aims to eliminate measles and rubella (MR) by 2026. Despite >90% vaccination coverage reported in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6, assessing population-level immunity gaps remains essential to guide strategies for protecting vulnerable groups. We leveraged biobanked samples from two community-based serosurveys conducted in urban Vellore in 2013 and 2022, representing periods 5 years before and after the nationwide MR vaccination campaign. Age- and sex-stratified participants were tested for measles- and rubella-specific IgG antibodies using ELISA. Seroprevalence estimates were compared across surveys, and generalized additive models (GAM) were used to assess age-specific seropositivity patterns. Effective reproduction numbers (Re) for measles and rubella were estimated using mixture modeling approaches. A total of 1,029 samples from 2013 and 718 samples from 2022 were analyzed. Measles seroprevalence increased from 33%, 41%, 47%, and 48% in the 1–5, 6–15, 16–40, and >40 years age groups in 2013 to 77%, 71%, 89%, and 96% respectively in 2022. Rubella seroprevalence increased from 32%, 67%, 76%, and 73% to 93%, 84%, 93%, and 98% across the same age groups. No significant sex-based differences were observed for either infection. The estimated Re declined from 7.4 to 3.6 for measles and from 1.8 to 0.8 for rubella following the MR campaign period. Population immunity improved by 2022, particularly for rubella. However, lower measles seroprevalence among children aged 1–15 years indicates persistent immunity gaps despite high vaccine coverage, highlighting the need for continued surveillance and targeted strategies to achieve measles–rubella elimination in India.
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BibTeX
@article{madhavan2026population,
title = {{Population level immunity to measles and rubella 5 years before and after the MR campaign in urban Vellore, South India}},
author = {Ramya Madhavan and Akilandeswari Eswaran and Vaishnavi Gandhi and Lakshmi Raj and Poornima Saravanan and Reshma Raju and Julian Vivek Leander Xavier and Jovin Stanley Joseph and Prasanna Samuel Premkumar and Kavitha Selvaraj and Asha Mary Abraham and Winsley Rose and Jacob John},
journal = {Human Vaccines \& Immunotherapeutics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1080/21645515.2026.2750748},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2026.2750748},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Population level immunity to measles and rubella 5 years before and after the MR campaign in urban Vellore, South India
AU - Ramya Madhavan
AU - Akilandeswari Eswaran
AU - Vaishnavi Gandhi
AU - Lakshmi Raj
AU - Poornima Saravanan
AU - Reshma Raju
AU - Julian Vivek Leander Xavier
AU - Jovin Stanley Joseph
AU - Prasanna Samuel Premkumar
AU - Kavitha Selvaraj
AU - Asha Mary Abraham
AU - Winsley Rose
AU - Jacob John
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
DO - 10.1080/21645515.2026.2750748
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2026.2750748
AB - India aims to eliminate measles and rubella (MR) by 2026. Despite >90% vaccination coverage reported in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6, assessing population-level immunity gaps remains essential to guide strategies for protecting vulnerable groups. We leveraged biobanked samples from two community-based serosurveys conducted in urban Vellore in 2013 and 2022, representing periods 5 years before and after the nationwide MR vaccination campaign. Age- and sex-stratified participants were tested for measles- and rubella-specific IgG antibodies using ELISA. Seroprevalence estimates were compared across surveys, and generalized additive models (GAM) were used to assess age-specific seropositivity patterns. Effective reproduction numbers (Re) for measles and rubella were estimated using mixture modeling approaches. A total of 1,029 samples from 2013 and 718 samples from 2022 were analyzed. Measles seroprevalence increased from 33%, 41%, 47%, and 48% in the 1–5, 6–15, 16–40, and >40 years age groups in 2013 to 77%, 71%, 89%, and 96% respectively in 2022. Rubella seroprevalence increased from 32%, 67%, 76%, and 73% to 93%, 84%, 93%, and 98% across the same age groups. No significant sex-based differences were observed for either infection. The estimated Re declined from 7.4 to 3.6 for measles and from 1.8 to 0.8 for rubella following the MR campaign period. Population immunity improved by 2022, particularly for rubella. However, lower measles seroprevalence among children aged 1–15 years indicates persistent immunity gaps despite high vaccine coverage, highlighting the need for continued surveillance and targeted strategies to achieve measles–rubella elimination in India.
SN - 2164-554X
SN - 2164-5515
ER -