Spread Of Vaccine-preventable Diseases Research Articles

Assessment of Documented Vaccination of Adolescent Schoolchildren in Various Cities of Russian Federation

Epidemiological surveillance of preventive vaccinations implementation is the most crucial component in the immunoprophylaxis organization. Assessment of documented vaccination coverage indicators allows to determine the quality of routine preventive vaccination and indirectly evaluate the possible state of population immunity to vaccine preventable diseases. Continuous quality control of routine vaccination, therefore, is a component of the system for epidemic management of infectious diseases. Specific decisions should be based on its results to improve preventive vaccination quality.Сomparative analysis of the vaccination history in adolescents (studying in schools in large cities of different federal districts of Russian Federation) and recommended national immunisation schedule allowed to identify widespread systemic mistakes of vaccination status. These issues led to the uprise and spread of vaccine preventable diseases. The study results confirmed the topicality of awareness-raising activities among medical staff working on preventive vaccination. Moreover, long-standing need of vaccination schemes correction is also important through development of medical technology aimed on improvement of catch-up vaccination approach.

Surveillance and risk assessment of health screening for vaccine-preventable diseases among international students in Japan: A cross-sectional study in 2020

ABSTRACT We conducted a cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire in three major Japanese cities from August 03 to 24, 2020 to clarify the current situation of health checkups, including vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), among international students at Japanese universities (JUs) and Japanese language schools (JLSs). The total response rate was 36%: 69 JUs (31%) and 137 JLSs (39%). Over 90% of these institutions conducted chest X-ray screening for tuberculosis among their students, whereas only 24.6% of JUs and 15.3% of JLSs performed general blood tests for health screening. Only 14.5% and 2.2% of the JUs and JLSs, respectively, required the submission of vaccination or antibody certificates for admission. The difficulties in requesting vaccination certificates from international students are due to poor legal requirements and concerns about rising costs for schools. From 2017 to 2019, 183 international students, principally from East Asia and Southeast Asia, were infected with VPDs, particularly tuberculosis (99 cases) and varicella (71 cases). Whereas the majority of Japanese educational institutions screen international students for tuberculosis (TB) at admission, only a few institutions request proof of antibody testing relating to other VPDs or of vaccination. These findings will help formulate guidelines for checkups related to vaccination for international students required to protect the educational institutions in Japan from the spread of VPDs. In addition, providing multifaceted social support, including financial compensation for institutions and enhanced international students’ health issues, would be helpful.

Parents’ Knowledge and Attitude toward Childhood Vaccination in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Childhood vaccination programs participate greatly in reducing the spread of vaccine preventable diseases. Beside the noticeable success of vaccination, there are still parents’ questions and hesitancy regarding childhood vaccination.
 Aims: This study evaluated the knowledge and attitude of parents in Qassim region towards childhood vaccination with the aim to measure the degree of the local community acceptance of childhood vaccination with aspiration to add an effective literature information in this field.
 Study Design: A cross sectional survey study using a Google form designed questionnaire.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Qassim in Saudi Arabia from October 2020 to December 2020.
 Methodology: We included 403 parents. The data was collected using a questionnaire divided in to three parts; socio-demographic, knowledge and attitude, and side effects. The knowledge was evaluated by seven items with answers set in to ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Don’t know’. The attitude by seven items with fixed-answers of ‘Agree’, ‘Neutral’ and ‘Disagree’. In the third part side effects like fever, pain, diarrhea, skin rash and seizures were directly asked. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of data. 
 Results: Among 403 participants, the majority were young adult female with a bachelor degree. The parents have good levels of knowledge and attitude towards child hood vaccination and the levels are significantly differed among various demographic variables. The parents’ attitude is linearly influenced by their level of knowledge (P-value is <0.001).
 Conclusion: Beside the good parents’ knowledge that positively influenced by their attitude toward childhood vaccination with a considerable local public awareness in this field, parents recommended more awareness campaigns on vaccination’s benefits and risks.

Immunization among Healthcare Workers in India: A Need or a Want

Immunization is a highly effective way for prevention of some major infectious diseases. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at greater risk of exposure as well as spread of vaccine preventable diseases, as they are in constant contact with patients and infectious materials. Many of these diseases still carry a potential for resurgence and can lead to outbreaks. Hence, vaccination programs among HCWs form an integral part of infection prevention & control practices, thereby protecting the healthcare personnel from infection and protecting the patients from getting infected. [1] Even in countries with specific vaccination programs for HCWs, the coverage remains very low and the majority are susceptible for vaccine preventable diseases. So, it becomes imperative for a developing country like India and other countries in low-resource settings to have a national vaccination plan for HCWs. [Table 1]. shows the list of vaccines recommended for HCWs by World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control and Prevention. [2,3]

Information sources and attitudes of Polish migrants accepting or declining vaccination in Scotland

Abstract Background Poland has the lowest EU vaccine confidence scores. The Polish are the largest migrant group in Scotland (91,000) with a high decline rate of nasal influenza vaccination. A new Polish language information leaflet in the 2018 school influenza programme saw consent form return increase but uptake remained low. We compare vaccination attitudes of accepting and declining parents. Methods A questionnaire to 365 Polish parents after vaccination asked about the leaflet, vaccination, time in UK and included WHO Vaccine Hesitancy statements. Accepting and declining parents were compared. Results 128 (37%) responded - 42% of vaccinating and 39% declining parents. 90% were long term UK resident, 72% speak Polish at home. Previous experience had most influence in vaccination decision-making, with social media and personal contacts in Poland and Scotland also key. Decliners were more likely to cite social media than accepters. Concerns about new vaccines, side effects and ’currently uncommon conditions’ are high in the Polish community and decliners hold more negative and scientifically ’incorrect’ opinions. Parents know that Polish and UK immunisation schedules differ for influenza, a condition thought less serious in Poland than UK. Conclusions Polish norms strongly influence this migrant group. Differences in how Polish migrants who accept or decline the vaccination respond to vaccine hesitancy statements plus knowing that Polish media and the Polish community shape their views can be used by health authorities to target health messages. It is important to be aware of immunisation status and vaccination beliefs of mobile migrant groups, such as the Polish, to prevent spread of vaccine preventable diseases in Europe. Linking vaccine hesitancy statement responses and behaviour can highlight national characteristics and particular concerns of vaccine hesitant parents. This information could be used to improve vaccine uptake rates among different ethnic minorities. Key messages Polish migrant children have low nasal influenza vaccine uptake. Vaccine hesitancy statements show decliners are particularly likely to distrust new vaccines and worry about vaccine side effects. Migrants access Polish social media and information and retain vaccination beliefs and norms post migration. Knowing this allows targeting of information campaigns to increase uptake.

Timeliness of Receipt of Early Childhood Vaccinations Among Children of Immigrants - Minnesota, 2016.

Receiving recommended childhood vaccinations on schedule is the best way to prevent the occurrence and spread of vaccine-preventable diseases (1). Vaccination coverage among children aged 19-35 months in the United States exceeds 90% for most recommended vaccines in the early childhood series (2); however, previous studies have found that few children receive all recommended vaccine doses on time (3). The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), using information from the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) and the MDH Office of Vital Records, examined early childhood immunization rates and found that children with at least one foreign-born parent were less likely to be up-to-date on recommended immunizations at ages 2, 6, 18, and 36 months than were children with two U.S.-born parents. Vaccination coverage at age 36 months varied by mother's region of origin, ranging from 77.5% among children born to mothers from Central and South America and the Caribbean to 44.2% among children born to mothers from Somalia. Low vaccination coverage in these communities puts susceptible children and adults at risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, as evidenced by the recent measles outbreak in Minnesota (4). Increased outreach to immigrant, migrant, and refugee populations and other populations with low up-to-date vaccination rates might improve timely vaccination in these communities.

Voluntary Vaccination through Self-organizing Behaviors on Locally-mixed Social Networks

Voluntary vaccination reflects how individuals weigh the risk of infection and the cost of vaccination against the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as smallpox and measles. In a homogeneously mixing population, the infection risk of an individual depends largely on the proportion of vaccinated individuals due to the effects of herd immunity. While in a structured population, the infection risk can also be affected by the structure of individuals’ social network. In this paper, we focus on studying individuals’ self-organizing behaviors under the circumstance of voluntary vaccination in different types of social networks. Specifically, we assume that each individual together with his/her neighbors forms a local well-mixed environment, where individuals meet equally often as long as they have a common neighbor. We carry out simulations on four types of locally-mixed social networks to investigate the network effects on voluntary vaccination. Furthermore, we also evaluate individuals’ vaccinating decisions through interacting with their “neighbors of neighbors”. The results and findings of this paper provide a new perspective for vaccination policy-making by taking into consideration human responses in complex social networks.

Overview of Policies Affecting Vaccine Use in Child Day Care

Vaccination policies for preschool-age children, including those in child day care, have undergone frequent changes within the past several years in response to the development of new vaccines (DTaP, Hib conjugate vaccines), the changing epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases (measles), and the establishment of new objectives for the control and elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases (Hib, hepatitis B). The acquisition and spread of vaccine-preventable diseases can be minimized in child day-care settings by vaccinating all children, establishing a continuing system by which all children remain fully vaccinated on schedule, providing educational materials to parents about the recommended schedule of routine childhood vaccines, and implementing new recommendations for vaccine use.