Mass Vaccination Against Measles Among Private Schools Population of Dubai 2015-2016, Coverage, Refusal and Response Rates
Taryam MMO, Hammadi HMYA, Al Faisal W*, Hussein HY, AlSerkal FY, Monsef NA, Buharoun A, AlBehandy NS
Background: The World Health Organization estimates that 2.5 million children younger than 5 years die from vaccine-preventable diseases each year. Immunization is the most effective tool for combating and eliminating infectious diseases.
Objectives: The study aims to identify the coverage rates of students, and refusal and non-response of parents during the measles mass vaccination campaign 2015-2016. It aims also to understand the current situation and the factors influencing voluntary vaccination coverage among 5-18 years old children at private schools of Dubai, and parents’ attitudes toward voluntary vaccination activities.
Methodology: The Primary Health care service at Dubai Health Authority developed guidelines for the measles vaccination campaign in Dubai as a part of the national campaign all over UAE Emirates and the global efforts to reduce measles morbidity and mortality using Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA) Strategy. These included information on the target population, the general campaign strategy, approaches to vaccine distribution and delivery, the location of temporary vaccination sites, the supervision of campaign implementation, and the reporting and treatment of adverse events following immunization (AEFI). A total of 266343 students at private schools in Dubai were identified as target population for the phase one. The target group was the students in the age group of 5-18 years. Medical staff were trained to take part in the vaccination activities in 175 schools in Dubai. School teams (90) and Dubai health authority mobile teams (25). Healthcare professionals were identified and trained to conduct on-site supervision of the campaign. All parents of students were approached with health educational materials and consent form. Meetings with parents were held in order to understand the non-response circumstances. Campaign vaccination activities and reports were reviewed.
Results: The study revealed that about 61.8% of the total students population were vaccinated at schools, 3.36 were vaccinated at other primary health care facilities, 11.3% were refused vaccination due to previously recievnig two doses of the vaccine, 3.45% were refused due to other causes, 0.42% were shown contraindications and about 19.58% were not responding to consent form. The study showed that about 12.7% of the vaccinated were below 5 years old and 87.3% were above 5 years old. The study reflected that about 78.6% of the total below 5 years students’ population and about 76.2 of the total above 5 years student’s population were covered. Current study showed that about 49.9% of those who were vaccinated inside schools were males and 50.1 % were females. As per nationality, the study showed that about 11.5% of total population vaccinated at schools were UAE nationals and 88.5% were expatriate.
Conclusion: The campaign has achieve good percentage of coverage. Comprehensive mobilization, and support from government departments were critical to the success of the campaign. However, those parents who did not respond were a lot, which raise issue of communication in need to be further investigated. There is a need to improving communication with parents through different available approaches in order to better understanding of the phenomena of not responding and improving the environment for future cooperation.
