Vaccine Coverage among Children with and without Intellectual Disabilities in the UK: Cross Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Child health policy
• Immunisation programmes
• Intellectual disability research

Background:

• Universal childhood vaccination is crucial for public health, aiming for high coverage to establish herd immunity.
• Identifying at-risk groups for incomplete immunisation is vital for targeted interventions.
• This study investigates if children with intellectual disabilities are an under-immunised group in the UK.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if children with intellectual disabilities experience lower vaccination coverage rates compared to their peers.
• To assess the impact of intellectual disability on immunisation status across different childhood ages.
• To understand the implications of potential vaccination gaps for individual and public health.

Main Methods:

• Utilised secondary analysis of parental report data from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study.
• Examined vaccination status at multiple time points: 9 months, 3 years, 5 years, and 14 years.
• Compared vaccination coverage between children with and without intellectual disabilities.

Main Results:

• Children with intellectual disabilities showed significantly lower vaccination coverage for most vaccines at 9 months and 3 years.
• While the gap narrowed at 5 years and for HPV vaccination at 14 years, incomplete immunisation remained elevated.
• Reasons for non-vaccination did not significantly differ between parents of children with and without intellectual disabilities.

Conclusions:

• Children with intellectual disabilities in the UK face an elevated risk of vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Incomplete immunisation in this group poses risks to their health and potentially to herd immunity.
• Addressing vaccination disparities for children with intellectual disabilities is essential for child health and public health outcomes.