Using routinely collected data to improve immunisation histories

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Immunology

Background:

• Vaccine-preventable diseases continue to cause outbreaks in developed countries despite high community immunisation rates.
• A significant number of paediatric inpatients are under-immunised, with their status often unidentified.
• Under-immunisation in this vulnerable group poses a risk to individual health and community herd immunity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a new system for identifying under-immunised paediatric inpatients.
• To improve the routine identification of children missing vaccinations.
• To enhance strategies for achieving adequate herd immunity.

Main Methods:

• Two audits were conducted on consecutive paediatric admissions to a rural assessment unit.
• The first audit compared documented vaccination histories with the regional Child Health Information System (CHIS).
• The second audit, after implementing a new system for accessing CHIS data, re-evaluated identification rates of under-immunised children.

Main Results:

• Initially, 15% of paediatric admissions were not up-to-date with immunisations, with only 17% of these identified during routine clerking.
• Following the new system's implementation, 14.5% of admissions were still under-immunised, but the identification rate increased to 52%.
• This represents a 35% improvement in correctly identifying under-immunised children.

Conclusions:

• Accessing routinely collected data, such as from the Child Health Information System (CHIS), significantly improves the identification of under-immunised children.
• Improved identification can contribute to higher individual and herd immunity levels.
• Targeted interventions can be more effectively implemented for under-immunised paediatric populations.