Vaccination status and needs of asylum-seeking children in Denmark: a retrospective data analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Asylum seekers to Europe may come from war-torn countries where health systems have broken down, and there is evidence that asylum-seeking children have low coverage of childhood vaccinations, as well as uptake of immunisations in host countries. Such gaps in immunisation have important implications for effective national vaccination programmes. How we approach vaccination in children and adults entering Western Europe, where as a group they face barriers to health services and screening, is a growing debate; however, there are limited data on the vaccination status of these hard-to-reach communities, and robust evidence is needed to inform immunisation strategies. The aim of this study was to explore the vaccination status and needs of asylum-seeking children and adolescents in Denmark. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective data analysis of anonymised patient records for asylum-seeking children and adolescents extracted from the Danish Red Cross database. METHODS: We retrospectively searched the Danish Red Cross database for children and adolescents (aged 3 months-17 years) with active asylum applications in Denmark as of October 28, 2015. Data were extracted for demographic characteristics, vaccination status and vaccinations needed by asylum-seeking children presenting to Red Cross asylum centres for routine statutory health screening. RESULTS: We explored the vaccination status and needs of 2126 asylum-seeking children and adolescents. About 64% of the study population were male and 36% were female. Eight nationalities were represented, where 33% of the total of children and adolescents were not immunised in accordance with Danish national guidelines, while 7% were considered partly vaccinated, and 60% were considered adequately vaccinated. Afghan (57% not vaccinated/unknown) and Eritrean (54% not vaccinated/unknown) children were the least likely to be vaccinated of all nationalities represented, as were boys (37% not vaccinated/unknown) compared with girls (27% not vaccinated/unknown) and children and adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years (48% not vaccinated/unknown) compared with 6- to 11-year olds (26%) and 0- to 5-year olds (22%). The health screenings resulted in 1328 vaccinations. The most commonly needed vaccines were diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b, (DTaP/IPV/Hib) which comprised 49% of the vaccines distributed, followed by the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar) (28%) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine (23%). CONCLUSIONS: The finding that nearly one-third of asylum-seeking children and adolescents in Denmark were in need of further vaccinations highlights the gaps in immunisation coverage in these populations. These results point to the need to improve access to health services and promote national vaccine programmes targeted at these communities to facilitate vaccination uptake and increase immunisation coverage to reduce the risk of preventable infectious diseases among asylum-seeking children

Drivers and barriers to acceptance of human-papillomavirus vaccination among young women: a qualitative and quantitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause of cervical dysplasia and cancer, and of genital warts. Few studies have examined attitudes to HPV vaccination since the introduction of HPV vaccines. We aimed to investigate the reasons for young women's acceptance or rejection of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine after its general availability in Denmark.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A literature review assessed attitudes towards HPV vaccination and the information was used to identify relevant questions for telephone and focus group interviews with women aged 16-26 who had decided to receive or reject HPV vaccination. 435 women across Denmark were interviewed by telephone. Qualitative interviews were undertaken in focus groups with 33 women living in Odense who had completed the telephone survey. Four focus groups were set up according to age (16-20 and 21-26 years of age) and acceptance/rejection of the vaccine.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 839 women initially contacted by telephone, 794 were included, 411 (49%) said they accepted vaccination but only 201 (24%) had actually received the vaccine and these latter were interviewed. 242 women said they refused vaccination of which 234 were interviewed. Women who were undecided were excluded from the study. Prevention of cervical cancer was the main driver for acceptance of the vaccine, followed by parental encouragement and financial support, personal experience of someone with cancer and recommendation by health-care professionals. The greatest barrier to vaccination was its cost. A lack of information about the benefits of vaccination for sexually active women was also an important barrier and the older participants in particular considered that they were too old to be vaccinated. Knowledge about HPV and its role in the development of cervical cancer and genital warts was poor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The difference between intention to be vaccinated and starting vaccination was considerable, and a large proportion of women aged 16-26 did not wish to be vaccinated. If the most important barriers to vaccination were addressed (cost and a lack of information about vaccination benefits), it is likely that the uptake of vaccination in Denmark would increase substantially.</p

Index to titles of English news releases of Hsinhua News Agency. 1967.

“This is an index to proper nouns and terms in the titles of the English 'Daily News Release' published by Hsinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, in 1967.