A Critical Review of the Articles “Rubella Outbreak Investigation, Gokwe North District, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe 2014

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DOI: 10.21522/TIJPH.2013.06.02.Art006

Authors : Daniel Chirundu, Pamela N. Magande, Adrian Musiya

Abstract:

This was an appraisal of a Rubella outbreak investigation carried out in Gokwe North District (Zimbabwe). The outbreak occurred from 24th June to 12 August 2014 at a primary school. The manuscript has an abstract that provided the stance and thesis. The introductory part covered the epidemiology of the disease. Methods section detailed the study design. Findings of the descriptive and analytical epidemiology investigations are presented in the results sections.

The article was published in the Pan African Medical Journal, a peer reviewed journal. This confers credence to the journal. It is tracked by HINARI, and Scopus, among others. The corresponding author is Donewell Bangure, a Zimbabwean epidemiologist. The manuscript was backed up by credible references from World Health Organization and other peer reviewed journals. However, wrong construction of the epidemic curve, may have led to erroneous conclusions.

Most of the information in the manuscript was objectively developed. However, some references were unpublished, and, some outdated. The manuscript was published in a peer reviewed journal and this makes it stable. There are three tables and one graph in the article. There are three well labelled tables and a graph in the manuscript. Information in the tables and graph is presented in a way that is comprehensible.

Keywords: Rubella, Gokwe North, Outbreak.

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