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More than half of US jails did not receive vaccine during flu pandemic
CDC. MMWR. 2012;60:1737-1740.
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The 2009-2010 national vaccine campaign bypassed many US jails, as 55% reported not receiving any A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza vaccine during that time period, according to this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“We need to re-think how we do planning for coverage of vulnerable people in the United States,” Anne C. Spaulding, MD, MPH of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, told Infectious Disease News. “Future pandemic preparedness efforts need to consider jail populations for the health of communities overall.”
Spaulding and colleagues conducted a survey that included a sample of US correctional facilities to investigate the extent that jails and prisons received A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine during the pandemic period.
Results indicated that 55% of jails did not receive the vaccine, whereas only 14% of federal prisons and 11% of state prisons did not receive the vaccine, according to the report.
In an accompanying editorial, CDC officials wrote: “The United States undoubtedly will experience future pandemics, some of which might be more severe than the 2009 influenza pandemic. Meeting the need for adequate vaccine delivery to jails can affect the health of inmates and the general population. The experience of vaccine distribution for the A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza pandemic highlights the importance of including correctional health care leaders in emergency pandemic planning.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
This report highlights that jails are frequently outside of the mainstream of public health interventions, which is a significant problem. Approximately 10 million persons pass through a correctional facility in the United States every year, of which a vast majority goes through jails. These individuals are disproportionately male, poor, have a history of substance abuse and often do not have good access to health care systems. Health care and public health interventions within jails are critically important to the health of the community because most individuals within jails are released within 30 days. This report demonstrated a disproportionate number of jails (55%) did not receive any H1N1 influenza vaccine during the 2009 pandemic period. This compared to only 14% of federal prisons and 11% of state prisons. This highlights the fact that jails are often outside of the mainstream of public health interventions. This is very important for communities that are committed to addressing HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections. Jails are a priority location for public health interventions because of the ability to reach high numbers of poor, at-risk individuals that have less access to health care systems. Leadership is needed in both the public health community as well as the correctional community to implement proven public health interventions within jail communities.
- Timothy P. Flanigan, MD
Rhode Island and the Miriam Hospitals
Disclosure: Dr. Flanigan reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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