Jg. Aaskov et al., SURVEILLANCE FOR ROSS RIVER VIRUS-INFECTION USING BLOOD-DONORS, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 58(6), 1998, pp. 726-730
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
The number of clinical Ross River virus (RRV) infections (epidemic pol
yarthritis) each year in Australia continues to grow despite extensive
vector control pro,srams. There is a need, therefore, for a surveilla
nce program that can give sufficient warning of outbreaks of the disea
se so that highly focused preventative measures may be undertaken. The
ability of a surveillance program, based on voluntary Red Cross blood
donations, to predict outbreaks of epidemic polyarthritis was evaluat
ed. Anti-RRV IgM antibody was detected in significant numbers of blood
donors from throughout the state of Queensland 6-9 weeks prior to an
increase in the number of notified cases of epidemic polyarthritis. At
a local level, significant numbers of anti-RRV IgM blood donors were
detected in Brisbane in 1996 four weeks prior to an increase in the nu
mber of notified cases of epidemic polyarthritis. This system of surve
illance is technically simple, rapid (results are obtained in 2-3 days
), it samples the human population from throughout the state, and it g
ives timely warning of outbreaks of epidemic polyarthritis.