ELISA underestimates measles antibody seroprevalence in US military recruits

Vaccine. 2008 Sep 8;26(38):4877-8. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.06.028. Epub 2008 Jun 27.

Abstract

The prevalence of antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella in US military recruits is of importance to public health leaders. We performed ELISA testing using a commercially available product on samples from 537 recruits obtained in 1998, of which 437 were positive (81%). We then performed a validation study in a subsample of the population using plaque reduction neutralization (PRN) to assess misclassification error. This resulted in a corrected estimate of the prevalence of immunity to measles of 96% (95% CI: 92-100%). The military vaccinates a percentage of recruits who are likely to be immune if more sensitive testing, such as PRN, was used.

Publication types

  • Comment
  • Letter

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* / standards
  • Humans
  • Measles / diagnosis*
  • Measles / epidemiology
  • Measles / immunology*
  • Measles virus / immunology
  • Military Personnel*
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Vaccination

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral