Timeliness of childhood vaccination in England: A population-based cohort study

We described vaccine uptake for representative antigens (pertussis, pneumococcus, measles) by age in days and stratified by ethnicity, region and birth cohort. Alluvial diagrams were used to illustrate common journeys through the vaccination schedule, and we applied survival analysis using accelerated failure time models (AFT) to predict age of vaccine receipt based on timing of previous doses.RESULTS: 573,015 children were followed up until their fifth birthday, when they had 90.16 % coverage for two doses of measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 88.78% coverage for four doses of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP) vaccine. Overall, the later the age at which a vaccine was due, the more delay in vaccination. Children of Black Ethnicity or from London showed deviating uptake patterns. If a child received their third DTP dose more than a year later than recommended, they would receive the next dose 2.7 times later than a child who was vaccinated on time. A smaller delay was found for children who did not receive first MMR dose on time.DISCUSSION: We showed that the risk of vaccination delay increased with the age of the child and significant delay of previous doses. Primary care data can help to promptly identify children at higher risk of delayed vaccination.PMID:37574342 | DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.08.002
Source: Vaccine - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Source Type: research