Abstract
Timely administration of hepatitis B vaccine beginning at birth prevents up to 95 per cent of perinatally acquired hepatitis B virus infections in infants of infected mothers. The Philippines changed its national HepB schedule in 2007 to include a dose at birth. We evaluated vaccination schedule change by reviewing infant records at selected health facilities to measure completeness and timeliness of HepB administration and frequency of recommended, simultaneous vaccination with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine. Of 1431 sampled infants, 1106 (77 per cent) completed the HepB series and 10 per cent followed the national schedule. The proportion with timely vaccination declined with successive doses: HepB1 (71 per cent), HepB2 (47 per cent), and HepB3 (26 per cent). Twenty-six per cent received HepB2 simultaneously with DTP1 and 34 per cent received HepB3 simultaneously with DTP3. If HepB and DTP vaccination were given simultaneously, 10 per cent more infants could have received all HepB doses. Program implementers should monitor vaccination timeliness and increase simultaneous administration to improve vaccination coverage and decrease disease incidence.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the data collection team from the University of the Philippines. We also thank Eric Mast, Jacqueline Gindler, Karen Hennessey, and Elizabeth Luman for their valuable comments on the draft manuscript and the protocol and Earl Bradbury on his contributions towards the protocol. Lastly, we thank the health workers from the Philippines Department of Health for their participation in the evaluation. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The work was supported by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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How has the introduction of a “birth dose” of Hepatitis B vaccine in the Philippines’ vaccination schedule affected coverage for this and other vaccines?
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S Wallace, A., Sobel, H., K Ryman, T. et al. Timing of hepatitis B vaccination and impact of non-simultaneous vaccination with DTP vaccine following introduction of a hepatitis B birth dose in the Philippines. J Public Health Pol 33, 368–381 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2012.18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2012.18