BACKGROUND: Japan lacks comprehensive reports on the nationwide voluntary vaccine coverage. The effectiveness of public subsidies in promoting vaccination has not been fully investigated. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the nationwide coverage of voluntary vaccines, compare it with that of national immunization program (NIP)-included vaccines, and investigate the effectiveness of public subsidies. METHODS: We obtained nationwide monthly vaccine market data for rotavirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, acellular pertussis, inactivated poliovirus (DTaP-IPV), and mumps vaccines; estimated recipient numbers; and calculated coverage as the proportion of children from October 2011 to March 2022. Regarding the NIP-included vaccine, we compared vaccine coverage calculated from nationwide annual market data with that estimated by World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), using Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: The estimates of Hib and DTaP-IPV vaccine coverage derived from market data were slightly higher than the WHO/UNICEF estimates, with mean differences of 0.05 (95% CI: 0.02-0.07) for Hib and 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01-0.05) for DTaP-IPV. The coverage of the rotavirus vaccine gradually increased long before the implementation of national subsidies, reaching 0.9 in 2020. Hib vaccine coverage had already achieved 1.0 by January 2012. The coverage of the DTaP-IPV vaccine was approximately 0.6-0.8 in 2013, reaching 1.0 in 2014. The coverage of mumps vaccine increased gradually from 2011 to 2021. CONCLUSIONS Despite the possibility of overestimation, our estimates may serve as a valuable surrogate for actual vaccine coverage in Japan. An increasing trend in rotavirus and mumps vaccine coverage was observed when these vaccines were categorized as voluntary. Although vaccination policies differ from country to country, it would be beneficial to share findings on the impact of subsidies in Japan with other countries.
Japan ; Humans ; Vaccination Coverage/statistics & numerical data* ; Infant ; Immunization Programs/statistics & numerical data* ; Rotavirus Vaccines ; Haemophilus Vaccines ; Child, Preschool ; Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated ; Vaccines

Objective: Through analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis A and E and the situation of vaccination, to promote the recommendation profile on Hepatitis E vaccination program, in China. Methods: Three phases of time span were divided as 2004-2007, 2008-2011 and 2012-2015, with age groups divided as <20, 20-29, 30-39 and ≥40. Incidence rates in both different phases and age groups were compared. Numbers of Hepatitis A and E vaccines released and used, were described. Results: Between 2004 and 2015, a declining trend in the reported incidence of hepatitis A (t=-12.15, P<0.001), but an increasing trend in hepatitis E (t=6.63, P<0.001) were noticed. The mean number of hepatitis A cases declined from 6 515 to 1 986 between 2004 and 2007 while the number of hepatitis E cases increased from 1 491 to 2 277 between 2012 and 2015. The peaks of hepatitis E appeared persistent annually, in March. The incidence of hepatitis A declined in three regions, with the western region (3.46/100 000) much higher than the eastern (1.13/100 000) or central regions (1.14/100 000) (χ(2)=32 630, P<0.01). The incidence of hepatitis E increased both in the central (1.74/100 000) and western regions (1.58/100 000), but more in the eastern region (2.66/100 000) (χ(2)=6 009, P<0.01). Incidence of hepatitis A declined in all age groups and declined by 84.36% among the 0-19 group. However, the incidence of hepatitis E showed an increasing trend among the ≥20 group. Incidence rates appeared higher in the older age groups. The coverage of hepatitis A vaccine increased from 62.05% to 93.54%, but with a negative association seen between the coverage of Hepatitis A vaccine and the incidence (F=10.69, χ(2)<0.05). Conclusion: The incidence of Hepatitis A declined sharply in China while hepatitis E was still increasing from 2004 to 2015, calling for the expansion on the coverage of Hepatitis E vaccine in the whole population.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Health Care Surveys ; Hepatitis A/epidemiology* ; Hepatitis A Vaccines/administration & dosage* ; Hepatitis E/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Immunization/statistics & numerical data* ; Immunization Programs ; Incidence ; Middle Aged ; Population Surveillance ; Vaccination/statistics & numerical data* ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to survey the current state of measles vaccination in university nursing students during a measles outbreak and to identify factors influencing nursing students' vaccination rate. METHODS: In 2014, this study used a self-administered questionnaire to survey 380 university nursing students. Factors influencing measles vaccination were identified through logistic regression analysis using variables between the vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups. RESULTS: Measles vaccination rate was 52.1%. The vaccination rate was significantly higher in juniors, seniors, and those who had heard about measles. In relation to health beliefs, the measles vaccination rate was higher when perceived benefits were high and perceived barriers were low. CONCLUSIONS: A systematic measles vaccination program targeting nursing students upon their entry to university is needed. In order to increase the measles vaccination rate, application of effective promotion campaigns and education programs is necessary.
Adult ; Disease Outbreaks/*prevention & control ; Female ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Immunization Programs/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Measles/*prevention & control ; Republic of Korea ; Students, Nursing/*psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Universities ; Vaccination/*psychology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of epidemiological characteristics of measles in Beijing before and after Supplementary Immunization Campaigns (SIA) (2007-2010 vs 2011-2014) of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) among children aged between 8 months and 14 years in 2010.

METHODSDescriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on surveillance data of measles cases (clinical cases and laboratory confirmed cases), with the occurrence during 2007-2014, and of outbreaks, with the occurrence during 2009-2014, from National Notifiable Disease Reporting System. MapInfo geographic information system (Version 8.5) was used to illustrate the distribution of measles incidence by district. Annual measles incidence was classified into 5 groups at the same intervals between the upper and lower limits to analyze the morbidity of the different areas.

RESULTSIn total, 7 722 and 3 132 measles cases were reported during 2007-2010 and 2011-2014, with the annual incidence of 11.59 and 3.84 cases per 100 000 population, respectively. Comparing with the results during 2007-2010, total number of measles cases and average annual incidence during 2011-2014 were decreased by 59.4%, and 66.9%, respectively. Among measles cases during 2011-2014, percentage of cases aged 15 years or above were 57.7%(56/97), 62.0%(49/79), 65.5%(370/565), and 71.4% (1 707/2 391), respectively, which increased by years. During 2007-2010, the highest risk age for adults was 20-34, while 2011-2014, 5 years older: 25-39. During 2009-2010, 2011-2012, and 2013-2014, 50.3% (447/889), 30.3% (10/33), and 57.8% (201/348), respectively, of measles cases aged 8-17 months were unvaccinated by MCV. Percentages of measles cases aged 0-7 months, 8 months-14 years, 15-39 years and 40 years or above during 2013-2014, who visited hospitals 7-21 days before disease onset, were 59.8% (238/398), 49.3% (237/481), 32.2% (529/1641), and 37.6% (164/436), respectively. A total of 11 nosocomial measles outbreaks occurred during 2013-2014, which was much higher than that during 2009-2010 (2 nosocomial outbreaks). And universities accounted for the majority of outbreak settings of schools (3/4). All 11 outbreaks among grouped employees during 2009-2012 occurred in factories, restaurants, or large shopping centers, while the largest proportion (6/16) of that kind of outbreaks during 2013-2014 occurred in office buildings.

CONCLUSIONSSIA of MCV in 2010 effectively decreased measles transmission in Beijing. But routine immunization of MCV still needed to be improved. The issue of adult measles has been a prominent problem. Hospitals, office buildings and universities were the focus of prevention of measles transmission.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Beijing ; epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cross Infection ; Disease Outbreaks ; Geographic Information Systems ; Humans ; Immunization Programs ; statistics & numerical data ; Incidence ; Infant ; Measles ; epidemiology ; Measles Vaccine ; administration & dosage ; Restaurants ; Schools ; Vaccination ; statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo review the re-examination sampling method and procedure of national immunization survey for the national immunization program vaccines coverage at the township level by the national level in 2013, China.

METHODSAccording to the result of immunization coverage at the township level through self-assessment by county, all townships were stratified by whether a township with ≥ 90% immunization coverage for the second dose of measles-containing vaccines (MCV2), and a township was urban or rural. After then, 2 townships for each province were randomly sampled from those strata through the surveyselect procedure of the statistics analysis system 9.2 (SAS 9.2).

RESULTS64 townships were randomly sampled from 32 provincial units for the re-examination, i.e. an urban township and a rural township each province, of which there were 38 townships with ≥ 90% MCV2 coverage and 26 townships with < 90% MCV2 coverage. There were 24 urban townships, 2 rural townships with < 90% MCV2 coverage and 8 urban townships, 30 rural townships with ≥ 90% MCV2 coverage, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSBased on the information of the self-assessment result of immunization coverage survey by counties, Stratified randomized sampling were employed for the re-examination through the Surveyselect procedure of statistics analysis system (SAS) to implement the sampling procedure. This can enhance the sampling efficiency, ensure the randomness of the sample, and make the survey much more representative and comparable.

China ; Humans ; Immunization ; Immunization Programs ; statistics & numerical data ; Measles Vaccine ; Rural Population ; Sampling Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; Vaccination ; statistics & numerical data ; Vaccines

OBJECTIVETo analyze the immunization status of category II vaccine in Chinese Mainland in 2012.

METHODSThe completeness of report unit by township and county, including 31 provinces (cities, municipalities) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the number of doses and the number of counties covered for category II vaccine at different areas, average types of category II vaccine by county were analyzed by descriptive epidemiological methods, according to monthly report of vaccination data for category II vaccines by township in 2012 which all of provinces and population were almost covered, through the National Immunization Program(NIP) monitoring information system of China.

RESULTSA total of 29 kinds of category II vaccine with 90 843 530 doses were reported in 2012, and the total average dose was 674.2 per 10 000 people. The report completeness by county and township were 83.32% (29 557/35 472) and 80.01% (396 652/495 756) respectively. The reported doses of rabies vaccine for human use, Haemophilus influenza type b vaccine and influenza vaccine was the top third vaccine, among those for all kinds of category II vaccine, which were 17 027 259, 13 996 206, 11 324 518 respectively, and 126.4, 103.9, 84.1 doses per 10 000 people. In 2773 county units, varicella attenuated live vaccine, influenza vaccine, rabies vaccine for human use were the top three kinds of category II vaccine in terms of the number of county where vaccines have been used in 2012, which were 2442(88.06%), 2415(87.09%), 2366(85.32%) respectively. Guangdong province with 12 266 531 doses was the highest report doses for category II vaccine whereas Qinghai province with 57 767 doses was the lowest number in 2012. Regarding to the average report doses by province, the highest or lowest number was 2425.0 doses per 10 000 people in Shanghai province, and 101.7 doses per 10 000 people in Qinghai province separately.

CONCLUSIONMany kinds of category II vaccine with a large amount have been used in China, and there are significant different among areas. Surveillance and management for category II vaccines should be future improved.

China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Immunization Programs ; statistics & numerical data ; Population Surveillance ; Vaccination ; statistics & numerical data

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to assess the potential health impacts and improve the quality of the free immunization program in Jinju City by maximizing the predicted positive health gains and minimizing the negative health risks. METHODS: A steering committee was established in September 2010 to carry out the health impact assessment (HIA) and began the screening and scoping stages. In the appraisal stage, analysis of secondary data, a literature review, case studies, geographic information systems analysis, a questionnaire, and expert consultations were used. The results of the data collection and analyses were discussed during a workshop, after which recommendations were finalized in a written report. RESULTS: Increased access to immunization, comprehensive services provided by physicians, the strengthened role of the public health center in increasing immunization rates and services, and the ripple effect to other neighboring communities were identified as potential positive impacts. On the other hand, the program might be inaccessible to rural regions with no private clinics where there are more at-risk children, vaccine management and quality control at the clinics may be poor, and vaccines may be misused. Recommendations to maximize health gains and minimize risks were separately developed for the public health center and private clinics. CONCLUSIONS: The HIA provided an opportunity for stakeholders to comprehensively overview the potential positive and negative impacts of the program before it was implemented. An HIA is a powerful tool that should be used when developing and implementing diverse health-related policies and programs in the community.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; *Health Policy ; Humans ; Immunization/*statistics & numerical data ; Immunization Programs/standards/*statistics & numerical data ; Korea

INTRODUCTIONWe undertook a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the National Childhood Immunisation Programme (NCIP) over the past 26 years by reviewing the epidemiological trends of the diseases protected, the immunisation coverage and the changing herd immunity of the population during the period of 1982 to 2007.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe epidemiological data of all cases of diphtheria, pertussis, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella and acute hepatitis B notified to the Communicable Diseases Division, Ministry of Health (MOH) from 1982 to 2007 were collated and analysed. Data on tuberculosis (TB) cases were obtained from the TB Control Unit, Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Cases of neonatal tetanus and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) among infants born in Singapore were identified from the Central Claims Processing System. The number of therapeutic abortions performed for rubella infections was retrieved from the national abortion registry. Coverage of the childhood immunisation programme was based on the immunisation data maintained by the National Immunisation Registry, Health Promotion Board. To assess the herd immunity of the population against the various vaccine-preventable diseases protected, the findings of several serological surveys conducted from 1982 to 2005 were reviewed.

RESULTSThe incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases covered under the NCIP had declined over the last 26 years with diphtheria, neonatal tetanus, poliomyelitis and congenital rubella virtually eliminated. The last case of childhood TB meningitis and the last case of acute hepatitis B in children below 15 years were reported in 2002 and 1996, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe NCIP has been successfully implemented as evidenced by the disappearance of most childhood diseases, excellent immunisation coverage rate in infants, preschool and school children, and high level of herd immunity of the childhood population protected.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Communicable Disease Control ; statistics & numerical data ; trends ; Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Disease Notification ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Immunity, Herd ; Immunization Programs ; statistics & numerical data ; Incidence ; Infant ; Population Surveillance ; Prevalence ; Singapore ; epidemiology

OBJECTIVETo assess the economic implications of an annual vaccination strategy against influenza among people who were on a social-health program.

METHODSA retrospective cohort study was conducted. 1900 persons who had received the influenza vaccine were served as vaccine group, while 1049 persons who did not receive the vaccine were served as controls. Cluster random sampling method was used. Both of these two groups came from Donfang Company in which there were 12,109 employers in total and all of them joined the social health insurance program. The survey was carried out when the influenza vaccine was given one year ago.

RESULTSThe rates of vaccine group and control group for respiratory system diseases and cardiovascular diseases who were hospitalized, were 0.51%, 2.47% and 1.64%, 5.62% which showed 68.90% and 56.05% decrease, when compared with the control group. The crude inpatient rate among vaccinees and control group after receiving the vaccination for three and four month were 0.62%, 0.80% and 0.28%, 1.00% respectively. The inpatient rate of oldest-age group decreased by 53.59%, compared with control group. The cost-benefit ratio generated by the use of influenza vaccine in reducing the hospitalization rate was 6.48:1 for Social Health Insurants in Xi'an city.

CONCLUSIONThe Strategy to vaccinate the social-health-insured residents on influenza in Xi'an city had gained better economic benefits in reducing the hospitalization rate of respiratory system diseases and cardiovascular diseases for mild and old-aged persons.

Adult ; China ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; methods ; Female ; Hospitalization ; economics ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Immunization Programs ; economics ; Influenza Vaccines ; therapeutic use ; Influenza, Human ; economics ; prevention & control ; Insurance, Health ; economics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Social Security ; economics

Rapid survey methodologies are widely used for assessing immunization coverage in developing countries, approximating true stratified random sampling. Non-random ('convenience') sampling is not considered appropriate for estimating immunization coverage rates but has the advantages of low cost and expediency. We assessed the validity of a convenience sample of children presenting to a travelling clinic by comparing the coverage rate in the convenience sample to the true coverage established by surveying each child in three villages in rural Papua New Guinea. The rate of DTF immunization coverage as estimated by the convenience sample was within 10% of the true coverage when the proportion of children in the sample was two-thirds or when only children over the age of one year were counted, but differed by 11% when the sample included only 53% of the children and when all eligible children were included. The convenience sample may be sufficiently accurate for reporting purposes and is useful for identifying areas of low coverage.
Data Collection/*methods ; Developing Countries ; Immunization ; Immunization Programs ; Papua New Guinea ; Population Surveillance ; Rural Population ; Sampling Studies ; Statistics, Nonparametric