Peer-reviewed article
Improved vaccination coverage after two rounds of multi-antigenic catch-up vaccination in Mauritania.
Pagola-Ugarte M, Rakesh A, Gil-Cuesta J, Kidinda D, Kelly TM et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Mauritania conducted two rounds of mass vaccination campaigns in 2018 targeting children aged 6 weeks to 59 months in Bassikounou district and Mbera camp, areas with low vaccination coverage and large migrant populations. The campaigns delivered multiple vaccines including polio, pneumococcal, pentavalent and rotavirus vaccines. Vaccination coverage for fully vaccinated children aged 12-59 months increased from 59.9% to 84.7% in Bassikounou and from 65.8% to 75.9% in Mbera camp. Although the campaigns did not reach the 90-95% target, they substantially improved coverage in these resource-limited settings.
Key points
- Baseline full vaccination coverage was 59.9% in Bassikounou district and 65.8% in Mbera camp before the campaigns
- After two rounds of multi-antigenic vaccination campaigns, coverage increased to 84.7% in Bassikounou and 75.9% in Mbera camp
- First round vaccinated 4,569 children and second round vaccinated 5,602 children
- Main reasons for non-vaccination were absence from home, lack of motivation, late initiation of vaccinations and lack of awareness about vaccination
- The catch-up vaccination approach could be effective for improving coverage in resource-limited settings with migrant populations
Limitations
The study used self-reporting and vaccination cards to assess coverage, which may introduce recall bias. The document does not provide information on long-term sustainability of coverage gains or cost-effectiveness of the intervention.
Abstract
Although Mauritania carried out its Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), in 2015 the goal of vaccination coverage (VC) remained unmet in Bassikounou district and Mbera camp, contexts with large migrant populations. In response, during 2018, the national authorities, together with Médecins Sans Frontières organised two rounds of multi-antigenic mass vaccination campaigns (2RMASVC). The campaigns included oral polio (OPV), pneumococcal (PCV13), pentavalent and rotavirus vaccines for all eligible children six weeks to 59 months old. This study describes the results of the 2RMASVC. Cross-sectional household VC surveys (VCS1 and VCS2) were conducted before and after the 2RMASVC. Data were collected on vaccination status according to self-reporting and vaccination cards, and on reasons for non-vaccination (RNV). In total, 4,569 children received at least one dose of vaccine in the first round and 5,602 children in the second. Baseline VC, as fully vaccinated, according to VCS1, was 59.9% of children 12 to 59 months in Bassikounou district and 65.8% in Mbera camp. After the 2RMASVC, the coverages increased to 84.7% and 75.9% respectively. Absence from home, lack of motivation, late initiation of vaccinations and lack of awareness about vaccination were the main RNV during the 2RMASVC. Although the 2RMASVC did not reach its goal of 90%-95% VC, the strategy significantly increased VC in the two settings for children aged 12 to 59 months. Therefore, this catch-up approach could be considered to improve VC of children who miss out of the EPI strategy in resource-limited settings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Two rounds of multi-antigenic catch-up mass vaccination campaigns delivering OPV, PCV13, pentavalent and rotavirus vaccines
- Population
- Children aged 6 weeks to 59 months in Bassikounou district and Mbera camp, Mauritania
Key finding
Vaccination coverage for fully vaccinated children aged 12-59 months increased from 59.9% to 84.7% in Bassikounou district