TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors of uptake and timeliness of newly introduced pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, and of measles vaccine in rural Malawi
T2 - A population cohort study
AU - Mvula, Hazzie
AU - Heinsbroek, Ellen
AU - Chihana, Menard
AU - Crampin, Amelia C.
AU - Kabuluzi, Storn
AU - Chirwa, Geoffrey
AU - Mwansambo, Charles
AU - Costello, Anthony
AU - Cunliffe, Nigel A.
AU - Heyderman, Robert S.
AU - French, Neil
AU - Bar-Zeev, Naor
AU - Beard, James
AU - Iturriza-Gomara, Miren
AU - King, Carina
AU - Lewycka, Sonia
AU - Nakagomi, Osamu
AU - Parashar, Umesh D.
AU - Phiri, Tambosi
AU - Tate, Jacqueline E.
AU - Verani, Jennifer R.
AU - Whitney, Cynthia G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (number WT091909/B/10/Z) awarded to NAC, RSH and NF; and the Karonga Prevention Study Core Award from the Wellcome Trust. We thank the members of the VacSurv Consortium: James Beard (University College London [UCL], London UK), Miren Iturriza-Gomara (University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK), Carina King (UCL), Sonia Lewycka (University of Auckland, New Zealand, formerly UCL), Osamu Nakagomi (University of Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan), Umesh D Parashar (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC], Atlanta, GA, USA), Tambosi Phiri (Mai Mwana Project, Mchinji, Malawi), Jacqueline E Tate (CDC), Jennifer R Verani (CDC) and Cynthia G Whitney (CDC).
Funding Information:
NBZ and NF have received investigator initiated research grant support from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. NAC has received research grant support and honoraria for participation in rotavirus vaccine advisory board meetings from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. NBZ, NF and NAC declare that this does not alter their adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. NBZ and CM are members of the Malawi National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Mvula et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Background: Malawi introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1) in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and is planning the introduction of a second-dose measles vaccine (MV). We assessed predictors of availability, uptake and timeliness of these vaccines in a rural Malawian setting. Methods: Commencing on the first date of PCV13 eligibility we conducted a prospective population-based birth cohort study of 2,616 children under demographic surveillance in Karonga District, northern Malawi who were eligible for PCV13, or from the date of RV1 introduction both PCV13 and RV1. Potential predictors of vaccine uptake and timeliness for PCV13, RV1 and MV were analysed respectively using robust Poisson and Cox regression. Results: Vaccine coverage was high for all vaccines, ranging from 86.9% for RV1 dose 2 to 95.4% for PCV13 dose 1. Median time delay for PCV13 dose 1 was 17 days (IQR 7-36), 19 days (IQR 8-36) for RV1 dose 1 and 20 days (IQR 3-46) for MV. Infants born to lower educated or farming mothers and those living further away from the road or clinic were at greater risk of being not fully vaccinated and being vaccinated late. Delays in vaccination were also associated with non-facility birth. Vaccine stock-outs resulted in both a delay in vaccine timeliness and in a decrease in completion of schedule. Conclusion: Despite high vaccination coverage in this setting, delays in vaccination were common. We identified programmatic and socio-demographic risk factors for uptake and timeliness of vaccination. Understanding who remains most vulnerable to be unvaccinated allows for focussed delivery thereby increasing population coverage and maximising the equitable benefits of universal vaccination programmes.
AB - Background: Malawi introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1) in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and is planning the introduction of a second-dose measles vaccine (MV). We assessed predictors of availability, uptake and timeliness of these vaccines in a rural Malawian setting. Methods: Commencing on the first date of PCV13 eligibility we conducted a prospective population-based birth cohort study of 2,616 children under demographic surveillance in Karonga District, northern Malawi who were eligible for PCV13, or from the date of RV1 introduction both PCV13 and RV1. Potential predictors of vaccine uptake and timeliness for PCV13, RV1 and MV were analysed respectively using robust Poisson and Cox regression. Results: Vaccine coverage was high for all vaccines, ranging from 86.9% for RV1 dose 2 to 95.4% for PCV13 dose 1. Median time delay for PCV13 dose 1 was 17 days (IQR 7-36), 19 days (IQR 8-36) for RV1 dose 1 and 20 days (IQR 3-46) for MV. Infants born to lower educated or farming mothers and those living further away from the road or clinic were at greater risk of being not fully vaccinated and being vaccinated late. Delays in vaccination were also associated with non-facility birth. Vaccine stock-outs resulted in both a delay in vaccine timeliness and in a decrease in completion of schedule. Conclusion: Despite high vaccination coverage in this setting, delays in vaccination were common. We identified programmatic and socio-demographic risk factors for uptake and timeliness of vaccination. Understanding who remains most vulnerable to be unvaccinated allows for focussed delivery thereby increasing population coverage and maximising the equitable benefits of universal vaccination programmes.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0154997
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0154997
M3 - Article
C2 - 27152612
AN - SCOPUS:84968698133
VL - 11
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e0154997
ER -