MenB vaccine uptake and number of reported cases with MenB infection Author: Monika Švédová Supervisor: PharmDr. Eva Zimčíková, Ph.D. Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University Introduction and aims: Meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis is global issue and it's known for its epidemical potential. In Europe, this disease is most often caused by B and C serotype. Main aim was to track occurence and other epidemiologic aspects related to invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in the Czech Republic from 2007 to 2016, focusing on serotype B and summarize available vaccinations which are used to fight disease mentioned above. Another was to analyse usage of Bexsero vaccination in the Czech Republic, hand in hand with number of spontaneous reports of adverse events after vaccination. Methodology: To assess epidemiologic aspects related to IMD data from the Centre of epidemiology and microbiology were used (years 2007 - 2016). Vaccination utilization was analysed based on data from the State Institue of Drug Control and expressed as number of packages. Central database of spontaneous adverse events reports was used to determine number and character of reports. Results: In period 2007-2016 there was a decrease in meningococcal disease...

Introduction: Despite advances in prevention and treatment of vaccine-preventable diseases, diarrhoeal and pneumococcal diseases remain a major source of morbidity and mortality among children worldwide. The introduction of vaccines has led to dramatic reductions in the burden of infectious diseases and mortality among children. South Africa was the first country in Africa to introduce rotavirus vaccine (RV) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in 2008 as part of its national immunisation programme. Performance of immunization programmes is commonly measured by the coverage and uptake of vaccines, hence ensuring that every child is immunized at the earliest or appropriate age is an important public health goal. We therefore assessed proportions and factors associated with uptake of RV and PCV among infants who were followed during the routine demographic surveillance system of the Africa Centre Demographic Surveillance Area (DSA) in a rural South Africa setting. Methods: An open cohort of children resident in the DSA aged 12 months or below was prospectively followed between January 2008 and December 2011. Trained interviewers visited households and administered a standardised questionnaire. Mothers and caregivers were asked to show the interviewers the South African Road-To-Health (RTH) card for all children aged 12-23 months at the time of the visit or through maternal recall for children whose RTH card was not available. The RTH card includes dates of all routine vaccinations a child has received. Rotavirus vaccine doses are given at 6 and 14 weeks of age and PCV doses at 6 and 14 weeks and 9 months. Complete uptake was defined as “complete” if a child received all recommended doses of either RV or PCV and incomplete if a child did not receive any dose or received one dose of RV or PCV. Logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with uptake of RV and PCV separately. Results: A total of 6,263 children were included in the analysis, of which 3,082 (49%) were females. At birth, 3,823 (61%) children were living in rural areas and about one-sixth of the children were living in households located far from a health facility (≥5km). The overall uptake of RV and PCV vaccines among children aged 12 months or below was 50% and 37% respectively. Infants who ever migrated outside the DSA had reduced odds of complete RV and PCV vaccination compared to infants who did not out migrate (adjusted OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.41-0.57) and (adjusted OR=0.52, 95% CI 0.43-0.63) respectively. Complete uptake of RV was associated with the increase in education levels of mothers compared secondary education (adjusted OR=1.70, 95 % CI 1.02-2.34) or tertiary education (adjusted OR=1.80, 95 % CI 0.97-2.44). Infants whose mothers were employed were less likely than infants whose mothers were not employed to have complete vaccination for RV or PCV (adjusted OR=0.71, 95 % CI 0.60-0.84) and (adjusted OR=0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.96) respectively. Similarly, infants whose mothers were resident in the DSA were more likely than infants whose mothers were not resident to have complete vaccination for RV or PCV (adjusted OR=1.97, 95 % CI 1.49-2.60) and (adjusted OR=1.55, 95% CI 1.16-2.08) respectively. Conclusion and recommendation: The uptake of complete RV and PCV were generally low among children in rural South Africa within our study period. Child outmigration, maternal employment, maternal education and maternal residency in the DSA at child birth were associated with complete uptake of RV and PCV vaccines. Programmes targeting mothers of lower socio-economic status are required. Such programmes may include vaccine awareness and immunization campaigns at the community level to improve vaccine uptake and more targeted interventions in areas with low RV and PCV uptake.

Seasonal influenza is associated with signiï¬?cant morbidity and mortality among older adults, aged 65 and older. Since vaccination is the single most effective preventive measure against seasonal influenza, clinicians and senior citizen center administrators need a better understanding of the perceptions of older adults concerning the reason for poor influenza vaccine uptake. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived factors that may be associated with poor influenza vaccination uptake among older adults. The health belief model (HBM) guided the study. The research questions examined perceptions predicting the odds of influenza vaccination uptake among older adults. This quantitative cross-sectional study consisted of administration of a newly developed 33-item questionnaire to a convenience sample of 147 older adult participants. A 2-week reliability test-retest on 50 participants indicated the instrument had moderate internal consistency (α -?¥ 0.7). Paired-sample t tests were not significant (p > .05), indicating that participants provided reliable responses across time. Ordinal regression analysis indicated that all HBM constructs were significantly associated (susceptibility, barriers, benefits, cues to action, and self-efficacy p = .000; severity p = .002) with frequency of influenza disease and recency of influenza vaccine uptake within 1 year. The social change implications from this study may help to improve vaccination uptake among older adults by providing senior public health decision makers and direct care clinicians with informed knowledge on perceptions and barriers that may play a role in influenza vaccination decision-making among older adults.

Background The administration of the COVID-19 vaccines has met with resistance and hesitance from different population groups including people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). It is concerning to know that PLWHAs are showing a higher rate of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy than the general population. The objective of this study is to synthesize the literature and determine the correlates and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among PLWHA using primary and secondary data. Methods A scoping review was conducted to identify and summarize studies on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among PLWHA using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) Extension for scoping reviews. For the secondary data, the Tennessee Department of Health HIV surveillance and COVID-19 immunization dataset was retrieved from the TDH partners and a questionnaire was developed and administered to PLWHA accessing care at the Ryan White HIV Center of Excellence in Johnson City for the primary data analysis. Results There was a significant association between age group (p < 0.001), gender (p < 0.001), and region (p < 0.001) and uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. PLWHA between the ages 35-44, 45-54, and 55+ in Tennessee were 1.4, 1.8, and 2.8 times more likely more to take doses of COVID-19 vaccines respectively than those between the ages of 15-24 in the State. At the Ryan White clinic, regularity with HAART (p=0.039), uptake of at least one of the other essential vaccines for PLWHA (p=0.011), belief about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine (p< 0.001), and interference between the COVID-19 vaccine and HAART (p< 0.001) were significantly associated with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusion Efforts and strategies to improve the COVID-19 vaccine behavior of young PLWHA with social media-based vaccine education is imperative. Furthermore, the association between the regularity of HAART and the perception of the safety of the vaccine for PLWHA on COVID-19 vaccine uptake has implications for policy and intervention strategies.

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Seasonal influenza outbreaks are associated with morbidity and mortality in the United States. Though children are the most susceptible to influenza infection and are most likely to transmit the illness to others, many children are not vaccinated. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between seasonal influenza vaccination Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and vaccine type among children over 3 consecutive flu seasons. This quantitative cross-sectional study was guided by the social ecology of health model. Secondary data from 3 consecutive flu seasons (2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017) provided by the National Health Interview Survey was used for this study. Binary logistic regression and chi-square were used to analyze the data. A relationship between socioeconomic status, demographics (age, race, and family income) and vaccine type (live-attenuated influenza vaccine [LAIV]/inactivated influenza vaccine) was established among U.S. children; those who received LAIV were most likely to be White elementary school age children with a higher family income. Demographic and socioeconomic status was not considered influential in LAIV uptake for race, health insurance status, or family income. ACIP recommendations by age and year had the greatest impact on flu vaccine choice for this sample population. The results of this study can lead to social change by providing information for policy that can increase vaccine uptake, which can result in lower health cost and reduced illness and death rates associated with the flu, especially for those most at risk.