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The decline in congenital rubella syndrome in Western Australia: an impact of the school girl vaccination program?

F J Stanley, M Sim, G Wilson and S Worthington

Rubella vaccination became available in 1970 in Australia. In Western Australia (WA), a school girl vaccination program was well established by 1971. Mothers under 26 years of age in 1983 would have been eligible for this program and they constitute 40 per cent of WA births. Data on Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) cases were obtained for years of birth 1968-83 inclusive to ascertain if there had been an impact of the program on the CRS rate. Epidemics of rubella occurred in 1970-71, 1974, and 1979-80. The CRS rate has fallen steadily; it did not rise during the 1979-80 epidemic and was less than one in each year after 1977. All CRS cases born since 1974 were to mothers too old to have been eligible for the program. The data suggest that the vaccination program is effective, but this cannot be proven until data become available on pregnancy terminations.