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MMR, influenza vaccination rates in New York City mirror other communities
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Measles-mumps-rubella and influenza vaccination among children presenting to a pediatric ED in New York City were comparable to community rates; however, they were lower than Healthy People 2020 targets, according to recent study findings published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
Philip Zachariah, MD, of the department of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues conducted a two-phase study to compare MMR (M-M-R II, Merck) and influenza vaccination rates among children presenting to a pediatric ED and rates among national assessments.
The first phase included 151 children aged 6 months to 18 years who presented to the pediatric ED between Nov. 8 and Nov. 11, 2011, and were assigned a non-severe triage category of 3, 4 or 5. The second phase included 1,684 children aged 6 months to 18 years who presented to the pediatric ED from Jan. 1 to Jan. 14, 2012, and were assigned to any triage category.
At least one dose of MMR was given to 87.7% of 734 patients aged 16 months to 6 years. Among 507 patients aged 16 months to younger than 48 months, 86.4% received at least one dose of MMR. Of 227 patients aged 48 months to 6 years, 18.5% received one or no doses of MMR compared with 81.5% who completed the two-dose series. Two doses were given to 77.3% of 696 patients older than 6 years to 18 years compared with 6.3% who received one dose and 16.4% who received no MMR vaccine doses.
Nearly 85% of 264 patients aged 19 to 35 months received one dose of MMR compared with 91.6% nationally, 91% in New York state and 91.5% in New York City. Two doses of MMR were given to 80.9% of 11 patients aged 5 to 6 years compared with 94.8% of children entering kindergarten nationally and 96.9% in New York state.
Influenza vaccination rates were lower among these same age groups. Nearly 47% of eligible children had no doses of the influenza vaccine recorded during the 2010-2011 season. Among 988 patients aged 6 to 59 months, 52.8% had at least one dose of influenza vaccine recorded compared with 54% of 696 patients aged at least 6 years. Among patients aged 6 months to 17 years, 53.3% received influenza vaccine compared with 49% nationally and 51.4% in New York state.
“In conclusion, assessment of vaccination status using an electronic immunization registry in the [pediatric ED] can help identify unvaccinated or undervaccinated children with implications for outbreak control and catch-up vaccination strategies,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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