Surveillance of vaccination coverage in 5-6- and 13-14-years-old schoolchildren in Geneva

Vaccination coverage rates have been key to evaluating childhood immunization programs. The objectives of this study were to assess the immunization coverage of children aged 5-6 years and 13-14 years during the 2017-2018 school year, and to identify sociodemographic factors associated with full immunization in these children.

A descriptive cross-sectional school-based study was carried out. The population under study was a sample of schoolchildren aged 5-6 years and 13-14 years attending the second and 10th grades of primary and middle schools, respectively, located in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The data extracted from the vaccination cards included dates of administration of all doses of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio (DTP), Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and hepatitis B (HBV).

We collected 1994 records of second- and 10th-grade children. Results show that 52% of our samples were fully vaccinated for DTP, MMR, Hib, and HBV. For all the vaccines examined in this study, the rates of immunization were significantly better for the second-grade than for the 10th-grade children (P<0.0001). More Spanish children were inoculated than children of Swiss nationality: OR=1.90,95% CI (1.05-3.42). More children with parents who were workers were inoculated: OR=1.35 95% CI (1.04-1.75).

This study suggests that full coverage in our sample was suboptimal. For children in the second grade, we observed high coverage rates for specific vaccines, yet the rates of MMR vaccination were lower than the level required for a herd immunity. Data collection using vaccination cards allows for regular surveillance of the vaccination coverage of school pupils and can be easily carried out in schools.