Article

Is vaccination coverage a good indicator of age-appropriate vaccination? A prospective study from Uganda.

Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, 5018 Bergen, Norway.
Vaccine (impact factor: 3.77). 03/2011; 29(19):3564-70. DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.02.093 pp.3564-70
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Timely vaccination is important to protect children from common infectious diseases. We assessed vaccination timeliness and vaccination coverage as well as coverage of vitamin A supplementation in a Ugandan setting.
This study used vaccination information gathered during a cluster-randomized trial promoting exclusive breastfeeding in Eastern Uganda between 2006 and 2008 (ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT00397150). Five visits were carried out from birth up to 2 years of age (median follow-up time 1.5 years), and 765 children were included in the analysis. We used Kaplan-Meier time-to-event analysis to describe vaccination coverage and timeliness. Vaccination coverage at the end of follow-up was above 90% for all vaccines assessed individually that were part of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), except for the measles vaccine which had 80% coverage (95%CI 76-83). In total, 75% (95%CI 71-79) had received all the recommended vaccines at the end of follow-up. Timely vaccination according to the recommendations of the Ugandan EPI was less common, ranging from 56% for the measles vaccine (95%CI 54-57) to 89% for the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine (95%CI 86-91). Only 18% of the children received all vaccines within the recommended time ranges (95%CI 15-22). The children of mothers with higher education had more timely vaccination. The coverage for vitamin A supplementation at end of follow-up was 84% (95%CI 81-87).
Vaccination coverage was reasonably high, but often not timely. Many children were unprotected for several months despite being vaccinated at the end of follow-up. There is a need for continued efforts to optimise vaccination timeliness.

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    Article: Timeliness of childhood vaccinations in Kampala Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study.
    Juliet N Babirye, Ingunn M S Engebretsen, Frederick Makumbi, Lars T Fadnes, Henry Wamani, Thorkild Tylleskar, Fred Nuwaha
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Child survival is dependent on several factors including high vaccination coverage. Timely receipt of vaccines ensures optimal immune response to the vaccines. Yet timeliness is not usually emphasized in estimating population immunity. In addition to examining timeliness of the recommended Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) vaccines, this paper identifies predictors of untimely vaccination among children aged 10 to 23 months in Kampala. In addition to the household survey interview questions, additional data sources for variables included data collection of child's weight and length. Vaccination dates were obtained from child health cards. Timeliness of vaccinations were assessed with Kaplan-Meier time-to-event analysis for each vaccine based on the following time ranges (lowest-highest target age): BCG (birth-8 weeks), polio 0 (birth-4 weeks), three polio and three pentavalent vaccines (4 weeks-2 months; 8 weeks-4 months; 12 weeks-6 months) and measles vaccine (38 weeks-12 months). Cox regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with vaccination timeliness. About half of 821 children received all vaccines within the recommended time ranges (45.6%; 95% CI 39.8-51.2). Timely receipt of vaccinations was lowest for measles (67.5%; 95% CI 60.5-73.8) and highest for BCG vaccine (92.7%: 95% CI 88.1-95.6). For measles, 10.7% (95% CI 6.8-16.4) of the vaccinations were administered earlier than the recommended time. Vaccinations that were not received within the recommended age ranges were associated with increasing number of children per woman (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR); 1.84, 95% CI 1.29-2.64), non-delivery at health facilities (AHR 1.58, 95% CI 1.02-2.46), being unmarried (AHR 1.49, 95% CI 1.15-1.94) or being in the lowest wealth quintile (AHR 1.38, 95% CI 1.11-1.72). Strategies to improve vaccination practices among the poorest, single, multiparous women and among mothers who do not deliver at health facilities are necessary to improve timeliness of vaccinations.
    PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(4):e35432. · 4.09 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

2 years
 
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin
 
cluster-randomized trial
 
common infectious diseases
 
Eastern Uganda
 
exclusive breastfeeding
 
Expanded Program
 
higher education
 
Kaplan-Meier time-to-event analysis
 
measles vaccine
 
median follow-up time 1.5 years
 
optimise vaccination timeliness
 
recommended time ranges
 
recommended vaccines
 
timeliness
 
timely vaccination
 
Ugandan EPI
 
vaccination coverage
 
vaccination information
 
vaccination timeliness