Authors: Helen Kalies Veit Grote HeinzJosef Schmitt Rüdiger von Kries
Publish Date: 2005/09/14
Volume: 165, Issue: 1, Pages: 30-36
Abstract
In Germany a low coverage with hepatitis B and measles vaccines and a considerable delay in administration of all recommended vaccines were previously apparent Whether there have been improvements and whether there are regional differences within Germany is not known Using representative nationwide telephone interviews on 2701 children born 1996–2003 we assessed vaccination coverage for the first dose or full primary series 2/3 doses depending on vaccine used at 24 months of age The proportions vaccinated with the first dose full priming and full immunisation 2/3 doses plus booster in the 2nd year of life until the end of the recommended age 3 5 and 15 months respectively for diphtheria tetanus pertussis polio Haemophilus influenzae type b Hib and hepatitis B vaccines DTPPolioHibHep and 15 for the first measles mumps and rubella dose MMR were used as indicators of compliance with national guidelines Coverage for polio Hib and hepatitis B vaccines increased while coverage for the first MMR dose remained constantly low at about 70 Vaccination coverage differed substantially among the German states and was highest for the new states Compliance with national guidelines increased from 25 to 15 for the full primary DTPPolioHibHep series from 162 to 447 for the first MMR dose and from 10 to 193 for the full immunisation with all recommended vaccines DTPPolioHibHepMMR ConclusionVaccination coverage at 24 months and compliance with national guidelines has improved for most vaccines in Germany However improving coverage for measles mumps rubella and eliminating the regional disparities remain a major challenge for the public health sector
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