Neonatal, Infant, and Under Age Five Vaccine Doses Routinely Given in Developed Nations and Their Association With...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Previous research in 2011 indicated a positive correlation between the number of infant vaccine doses and infant mortality rates in developed nations.
• This trend was re-evaluated using 2019 data, confirming the association with a linear regression analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the number of early childhood vaccine doses required by nations and their neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality rates.
• To expand upon previous findings by analyzing mortality rates across different age groups and vaccine schedules.

Main Methods:

• Ecological study design utilizing linear regression analyses.
• Data from 2019 and 2021 were analyzed for correlations between vaccine doses and mortality rates (neonatal, infant, under-five).
• Stratified analyses and ANOVA with post hoc Tukey-Kramer tests were conducted for nations requiring zero, one, or two neonatal vaccine doses.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant positive correlations were found between the number of neonatal vaccine doses and neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality rates in 2021.
• Nations requiring two neonatal vaccine doses showed significantly higher mean infant mortality rates compared to those requiring zero doses (1.28 deaths per 1000 live births difference).
• 17 out of 18 statistical analyses using 2019 and 2021 data corroborated the positive association between the number of required vaccine doses and infant mortality.

Conclusions:

• A statistically significant positive correlation exists between mortality rates (neonatal, infant, under-five) in developed nations and the number of early childhood vaccine doses administered.
• Findings suggest a potential need for further investigation into current vaccination schedules to ensure they achieve their intended public health objectives.