A study by the University of Southampton shows that several low-and middle-income countries, especially in Africa, need more effective child vaccination strategies to eliminate the threat from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Image/WorldPop

Geographers from the University’s WorldPop group found diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis) vaccination levels in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Mozambique and also in Cambodia, southeast Asia, fall short of the 80 per cent threshold recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This means the potential for disease circulation and outbreak in these countries remains high.

Findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between 2011 and 2016, the researchers examined the performance of routine immunisation (RI) through the delivery of the three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP1-3) to children aged five and under, including drop-out rates between doses. They compared this with the delivery of the measles-containing vaccine (MCV), for which additional supplementary immunisation activities (SIAs) are often undertaken. Highly detailed (one km sq.) maps showing levels of vaccine coverage for each country and reflecting the relative performance of routine and supplementary activities were produced.

Read more at University of Southampton