Determination of antibody levels against vaccine-preventable diseases is of great value to assess immunization programmes. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of measles, rubella, and mumps antibodies in representative samples of the child and adult population of Catalonia and compare the findings to those obtained in 1996. A representative sample of the child and adult (>or=15 years) population of Catalonia was studied. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques were used to determine the presence of antibodies. Equivocal results for antibodies against measles and rubella were tested using an immunofluorescence technique. To compare proportions, the chi-square test and the Fisher's exact test were used. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Samples from 2,619 people were analyzed. The global prevalence of antibodies was 98.3% for measles, 91.1% for mumps, and 98.1% for rubella. The prevalence of rubella antibodies was higher in women than in men (98.8 vs. 97.2%, respectively). Compared with the results obtained in the 1996 seroprevalence study, only the prevalence of rubella antibodies showed a statistically significant increase in men (97.2 vs. 94.6%; p=0.002) and, in particular, in women (98.8 vs. 95.3%; p<0.001). The low prevalence of susceptible subjects has already led to the elimination of indigenous measles in Catalonia and should allow the elimination of indigenous rubella by 2005. The level of antibodies necessary to interrupt the transmission of mumps has still not been reached in all age groups.

Background: Although routine vaccination is a major tool in the primary prevention of some infectious diseases, there is some reluctance in a proportion of the population. Negative parental perceptions of vaccination are an important barrier to paediatric vaccination. The aim of this study was to investigate parental knowledge of paediatric vaccines and vaccination in Catalonia.

Serotype 3 is one of the most often detected pneumococcal serotypes in adults and it is associated with serious disease. In contrast, the isolation of serotype 3 by bacterial culture is unusual in children with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). The purpose of this study was to learn the serotype distribution of IPD, including culture-negative episodes, by using molecular methods in normal sterile samples. We studied all children<5 years of age with IPD admitted to two paediatric hospitals in Catalonia, Spain, from 2007 to 2009. A sequential real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach was added to routine methods for the detection and serotyping of pneumococcal infection. Among 257 episodes (219 pneumonia, 27 meningitis, six bacteraemia and five others), 33.5% were identified by culture and the rest, 66.5%, were detected exclusively by real-time PCR. The most common serotypes detected by culture were serotypes 1 (26.7%) and 19A (25.6%), and by real-time PCR, serotypes 1 (19.8%) and 3 (18.1%). Theoretical coverage rates by the PCV7, PCV10 and PCV13 vaccines were 10.5, 52.3 and 87.2%, respectively, for those episodes identified by culture, compared to 5.3, 31.6 and 60.2% for those identified only by real-time PCR. Multiplex real-time PCR has been shown to be useful for surveillance studies of IPD. Serotype 3 is underdiagnosed by culture and is important in paediatric IPD.

The immunogenicity and reactogenicity of the tetanus-diphtheria adult type vaccine was compared in two groups: group I (n = 201, 18-30 years old, presumably vaccinated with the DTP vaccine) and group II (n = 147, > or = 45 years old, without vaccination antecedents). Before vaccination, the seroprotection levels for tetanus were 90.5% (group I) and 30.6% (group II). These rose to 99.5% and 81.7%, respectively, after administration of one vaccine dose. For diphtheria, prevaccination seroprotection levels were 38.3% (group I) and 19.0% (group II). These rose to 85.8% and 65.7%, respectively, after vaccination. The logistic regression analysis showed an association between antibody titre and age. In group II, 3 doses of Td vaccine were needed to reach titres similar to those achieved in group I with a single dose. Stated reactogenicity was greater in: young subjects, women, those with higher titres of tetanus antibodies and those receiving other vaccines simultaneously. These results confirm the need for vaccination schedules adapted to the characteristics of each population age-group.