Recent migrants face barriers to accessing health care including language and cultural barriers, limited knowledge, food and housing insecurity, stress, and lack of resources available during prolonged travel. In Canada, though foreign-born populations make up only 22% of the total population, 70% of active tuberculosis cases occurred in this population.
Americas
Immunization can help overcome barriers to healthcare access and reduce high rates of TB in Inuit populations
Native populations experience barriers to health care access such as limited knowledge, stigma, community social isolation, and geographic isolation. As a result, Inuit populations in Canada suffer 300 times higher rates of TB than the Canadian-born non-Indigenous population.
Vaccinating pregnant women with Tdap vaccine protects infants from pertussis and provides additional protection in their first year
A large study in California involving nearly 150,000 newborns found that vaccinating pregnant women with the Tdap vaccine provided 91% protection against pertussis infection among infants under 2 months of age and 88% protection before the infants had any vaccinations. The study also showed that vaccinating mothers during their pregnancy did not reduce the effectiveness of infant vaccination but that maternal Tdap vaccination provided additional protection to the infants through their first year of life.
Immunization campaigns provide more equitable access to childhood vaccinations compared to maternal health services
An analysis of survey data in Latin America and Caribbean countries found that DPT3 coverage rates among indigenous children were significantly lower than in children of European or mixed ethnicity in three out of 14 countries, while significant inequities between these groups in coverage of maternal health services, such as antenatal care and delivery by a skilled birth attendant, existed in most of the countries. The greater equity in access to childhood vaccination by ethnic group may be because vaccinations are often delivered in the communities through immunization campaigns, whereas maternal health services require accessing health facilities, which may incur user fees and transportation costs.
Rotavirus vaccination reduces the risk of childhood seizures requiring emergency care or hospitalization
Seizures are the most common non-gastrointestinal symptom associated with rotavirus infection. Studies have found that during the year following rotavirus vaccination the risk of childhood seizures were reduced by 18-21% for seizures requiring emergency care or hospitalization in the U.S. and by 16-34% for childhood seizures requiring hospitalization in Spain.
Dengue illness is costly for low-income families, but immunization can help reduce the economic burden
In a standardized survey of the costs of dengue illness in three highly endemic countries, the economic burden of dengue was greatest on Vietnamese and Colombian low-income families, whose total costs, including lost wages, outpatient and inpatient cases combined, average 36-45% of their monthly household income. In Thailand, although significant, the economic burden was 17% less than the other countries, due to Thailand’s universal health insurance system.
Immunization with PCV7 and PCV13 vaccines reduced pneumonia hospitalizations in adults, including the elderly
According to some studies, hospitalizations from all causes of pneumonia declined in 18-39 year old adults in the U.S. by 26% 4 years after PCV7 vaccine was included in the infant vaccination schedule and by a further 12% with the first 2 years after PCV13 replaced PCV7. Though reductions in older age groups were not statistically significant, other U.S. studies showed significant reductions in pneumonia hospitalization rates in all adult age groups, including the elderly.
Vaccinating pregnant women with Tdap vaccine in Brazil was 83% effective in preventing pertussis in infants
In a case-control study in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, vaccination of pregnant women with Tdap vaccine was 83% effective in preventing pertussis in their infants less than 2 months of age — before their first dose of DPT — and 81% effective after controlling for household income and mother’s age.
Maternal pertussis vaccination in Argentina reduced pertussis incidence in infants under 2 months by half
In Argentina, more than 50% of deaths due to pertussis occurred in infants younger than 2 months of age — too young to be vaccinated in the country. The impact of maternal pertussis vaccination in protecting their infants against the disease reduced the incidence of pertussis in infants less than 2 months old by half, when comparing states with high and low maternal vaccination rates.
Immunization during pregnancy protects against serious illnesses and improves pregnancy outcomes
Pregnant women are at particularly high risk of serious illness and death from a variety of bacterial and viral diseases, such as influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia, and Group B strep, for which vaccines exist or are in development. Vaccine-preventable diseases in pregnancy are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as spontaneous abortion, congenital anomalies, preterm birth, and low birth weight.