A 2019 analysis of survey data from school aged children in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam shows that children vaccinated against measles achieved 0.2 – 0.3 years of additional schooling compared to children who did not receive the measles vaccine.
India
Children who received measles vaccines performed better in cognitive tests than those who did not
A 2019 analysis of survey data from India, Ethiopia and Vietnam found that children vaccinated against measles scored better on cognitive tests of language development, math and reading than children who did not receive measles vaccines.
Children in rural-urban migrant populations in China, India, and Nigeria have lower immunization rates, requiring special efforts to improve vaccination rates and reduce health inequities and disease outbreaks
According to a systematic review and meta-analysis, children who are rural-urban migrants in China, India and Nigeria were less likely to be fully-immunized by the age of one year than non-migrant urban residents and the general population. These inequities in vaccination rates — often concealed in national averages — call for special efforts to improve immunization rates in this rapidly growing sub-population to reduce both health inequities and the risk of infectious disease outbreaks in the wider society.
HIV-exposed infants are more vulnerable to measles due to lower levels of antibodies
A small hospital-based study in India found that 6 month old infants born to HIV-infected women were 11 times more likely to lack measles antibodies than 6 month olds not exposed to HIV whether or not the exposed infants were themselves infected with HIV. The lack of antibodies in most HIV-exposed infants — making them more vulnerable to measles — may be due to lower levels of measles antibodies in HIV-infected mothers or to poorer transfer of antibodies to the fetus across the placenta.
The introduction of the Hib vaccine in Tamil Nadu led to a 79% decline in meningitis cases in children under two years
In a major children’s hospital in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, meningitis cases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in children under two years declined by 79% within two years of the introduction of Hib vaccine. This decline was greater than expected given a vaccination coverage of ~70% for one dose of the vaccine and much greater than expected with a 53% coverage rate for three doses. This suggests that the vaccine protected unvaccinated children through herd immunity.
Children of migrant laborers may have lower vaccination rates compared to the general population, increasing their risk of preventable diseases
A study found that children of poor labor migrants living in Delhi, India are much less likely to be fully vaccinated than the general population and thus are at greater risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. Only 31% – 53% of children from migrant families were fully immunized (against 7 diseases) by 12 months of age, compared to 72% in the overall population of Delhi — with recent migrants having the lowest rates. There is therefore a need to focus on the delivery of health services to migrants.
Efforts to eradicate polio have also led to improved access to other vaccines
The expertise and assets gained through efforts to eradicate polio at least partially explain the improvement between 2013 and 2015 in vaccination coverage of DPT3 in six out of ten “focus” countries of the Polio Eradication Endgame strategic plan. This includes substantial increases in vaccination rates in India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, which, combined, reduced the number of children not fully vaccinated with DPT by 2 million in 2 years.
Immunizing infants and older age groups against typhoid can save costs and be economically justifiable
The first study of the cost-effectiveness of typhoid conjugate vaccines found that routinely immunizing infants at 9 months of age would actually save costs in 2 settings (Delhi, India and a rural area of Vietnam), due to high incidence or high hospitalization rates, and would be cost-effective in the study’s 3 other sites (in India and Kenya). Adding a one-time catch-up campaign for various older age groups would still save costs in Delhi and Vietnam, and increase the cost-effectiveness in the others, making it economically justifiable.
Immunization can prevent costly hospitalizations for childhood pneumonia, saving money and improving health outcomes
In a global review of the costs of treating childhood pneumonia, the average costs of a hospitalized case of pneumonia in children under five years of age was US$243 in primary or secondary hospitals in low- and middle-income countries (ranging from US$40 – US$563) and US$559 in tertiary hospitals (ranging from US$20 – US$1,474). In high-income countries, the cost of hospitalized cases averaged US$2,800 in primary or secondary hospitals and more than US$7,000 in tertiary hospitals. Note that in most of these studies, only direct medical costs were included and thus total costs – including non-medical costs and lost wages – would be considerably higher.
Hospitalization for pneumonia in children causes financial burdens for families beyond medical treatment
Three studies in Bangladesh and India found that the direct medical costs for children hospitalized with pneumonia were 27% to 116% of the average monthly income of households. And, while these costs represent a major portion of a family’s monthly income, they don’t include non-medical costs, such as transport and food costs, nor the lost wages of family members who miss work to care for the child.