Oral Presentation Australian Epidemiology Association ASM 2018

Factors associated with uptake of rotavirus vaccines in Australian children (#17)

Parveen Fathima 1 , Heather F Gidding 2 , Tom L Snelling 1 3 4 , Nicholas de Klerk 1 , Peter B McIntyre 5 , Christopher C Blyth 1 3 6 7 , Sarah L Sheridan 2 , Bette Liu 2 , Hannah C Moore 1
  1. Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth , WA, Australia
  4. Menzies School of Health Research , Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  5. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, QEII Medical Centre, Perth, WA, Australia
  7. School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

Background/Aims

Rotavirus vaccines were included in Australia’s national immunisation program in mid-July 2007. Despite being administered at the same time as other vaccines on the childhood immunisation schedule, uptake of this vaccine has been reported to be lower than other vaccines in Australia. We aimed to report on the coverage and determinants of rotavirus vaccine uptake among Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study of children born in New South Wales and Western Australia (WA) from 2007-2012. Birth and perinatal records for 682,849 children were probabilistically linked to Commonwealth-held immunisation records. To assess the determinants of vaccine uptake, multivariate logistic regression modelling was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

The proportion of children deemed to be fully immunised by 12 months for rotavirus vaccine was 73.8% in Aboriginal children and 85.8% in non-Aboriginal children. Compared to first-born children, the aOR of receiving ≥1 dose(s) of the vaccine for infants born to mothers with ≥3 previous pregnancies was 0.30 (95%CI:0.27-0.34) among Aboriginal and 0.53 (95%CI:0.51-0.55) among non-Aboriginal children. The aOR for children with low birthweight (<1500g) compared to birthweight >3500g was 0.46 (95%CI:0.30-0.70) among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Gestational age <33 weeks, younger maternal age, maternal smoking during pregnancy, socio-economic disadvantage and birth in WA were some of the other independent risk factors associated with decreased vaccine uptake.

Conclusion

The key population groups identified in this study are likely to benefit from targeted programs for improving vaccine coverage.