The Swiss National Vaccination Coverage Survey, 2005–2007

Objectives. We described the results from the Swiss National Vaccination Coverage Survey (SNVCS) 2005–2007, a survey designed to monitor immunization coverage of children and adolescents residing in Switzerland in each canton within a three-year period. Methods. The SNVCS is a cross-sectional survey using a two-stage sampling design targeting children aged 2, 8, and 16 years. Families of selected children were contacted by mail and telephone. Coverage was determined via vaccination cards or vaccination summary forms. Results. A total of 25 out of 26 cantons participated in the survey, with 8,286 respondents for children aged 24–35 months, 10,314 respondents for children aged 8 years, and 9,301 respondents for teenagers aged 16 years. Compared with data from 1999–2003, coverage estimates for toddlers remained unchanged for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines at three doses, but increased five percentage points to 86%–87% for measles-mumps-rubella at one dose and was 71% at two doses. Coverage for measles, mumps, and rubella were 89%–90% at one dose and 75% at two doses for 8-year-olds, and 94% and 76% for the two dosages, respectively, for 16-year-olds. Linguistic region and nationality were highly correlated with being vaccinated against measles for the two younger age groups. Conclusion. Despite the increase in vaccine coverage, measles vaccination is still low, and the World Health Organization goal to eliminate measles by 2010 was not achieved in Switzerland. More efforts are needed by the cantons and the central government to increase vaccination coverage.

[1]  C. Huebner,et al.  Pediatric Vaccination and Vaccine-Preventable Disease Acquisition: Associations with Care by Complementary and Alternative Medicine Providers , 2010, Maternal and Child Health Journal.

[2]  T. Panagiotopoulos,et al.  Socioeconomic factors play a more important role in childhood vaccination coverage than parental perceptions: a cross-sectional study in Greece. , 2010, Vaccine.

[3]  J. Richard,et al.  Large measles epidemic in Switzerland from 2006 to 2009: consequences for the elimination of measles in Europe. , 2009, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin.

[4]  H. Hallander,et al.  Efficacy and effectiveness of acellular pertussis vaccines: a 20-year Swedish experience , 2009, Expert review of vaccines.

[5]  E. Bechter,et al.  Measles outbreak linked to a minority group in Austria, 2008 , 2009, Epidemiology and Infection.

[6]  M. Gnädinger,et al.  Attitudes towards vaccination: users of complementary and alternative medicine versus non-users. , 2009, Swiss medical weekly.

[7]  Philip J. Smith,et al.  Racial/ethnic disparities in vaccination coverage by 19 months of age: An evaluation of the impact of missing data resulting from record scattering , 2008, Statistics in medicine.

[8]  R. Mikolajczyk,et al.  Association between acculturation and childhood vaccination coverage in migrant populations: a population based study from a rural region in Bavaria, Germany , 2008, International Journal of Public Health.

[9]  P. van Damme,et al.  Vaccination Coverage in 14-Year-Old Adolescents: Documentation, Timeliness, and Sociodemographic Determinants , 2008, Pediatrics.

[10]  A. Mankertz,et al.  Measles outbreak in Switzerland--an update relevant for the European football championship (EURO 2008). , 2008, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin.

[11]  S. Santibanez,et al.  Measles in south-west Germany imported from Switzerland--a preliminary outbreak description. , 2008, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin.

[12]  H. Theeten,et al.  Vaccination coverage and sociodemographic determinants of measles–mumps–rubella vaccination in three different age groups , 2008, European Journal of Pediatrics.

[13]  A. Middleman,et al.  The Role of Schools in Strengthening Delivery of New Adolescent Vaccinations , 2008, Pediatrics.

[14]  K. Jamrozik,et al.  Ethnicity as a correlate of the uptake of the first dose of mumps, measles and rubella vaccine , 2007, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

[15]  E. Mendelson,et al.  Measles outbreaks affecting children in Jewish ultra-orthodox communities in Jerusalem , 2007, Epidemiology and Infection.

[16]  Aaron M. Wendelboe,et al.  Transmission of Bordetella pertussis to Young Infants , 2007, The Pediatric infectious disease journal.

[17]  J. Cherry,et al.  Pertussis immunisation in adolescents and adults – Bordetella pertussis epidemiology should guide vaccination recommendations , 2006, Expert opinion on biological therapy.

[18]  B. Hull,et al.  Timeliness of childhood immunisation in Australia. , 2006, Vaccine.

[19]  U. Heininger,et al.  Immunization rates and timely administration in pre-school and school-aged children , 2006, European Journal of Pediatrics.

[20]  S. Kalaça,et al.  Assessment of sociodemographic factors and socio-economic status affecting the coverage of compulsory and private immunization services in Istanbul, Turkey. , 2005, Public health.

[21]  S. Stampi,et al.  Compulsory and recommended vaccination in Italy: evaluation of coverage and non-compliance between 1998-2002 in Northern Italy , 2005, BMC public health.

[22]  M. F. van der Wal,et al.  Vaccination rates in a multicultural population , 2004, Archives of Disease in Childhood.

[23]  J. Giesecke,et al.  Timeliness of MMR vaccination--influence on vaccination coverage. , 2004, Vaccine.

[24]  K. M. Peddecord,et al.  A middle school immunization law rapidly and substantially increases immunization coverage among adolescents. , 2004, American journal of public health.

[25]  L. Barker,et al.  Racial/ethnic disparities in preschool immunizations: United States, 1996-2001. , 2004, American journal of public health.

[26]  G. Tomlinson,et al.  A survey of attitudes towards paediatric vaccinations amongst Canadian naturopathic students. , 2004, Vaccine.

[27]  Elizabeth T Luman,et al.  Timeliness of childhood immunizations. , 2002, Pediatrics.

[28]  Alan M. Zaslavsky,et al.  Using Telephone Interviews to Reduce Nonresponse Bias to Mail Surveys of Health Plan Members , 2002, Medical care.

[29]  P. Bonanni,et al.  Factors influencing vaccine uptake in Italy. , 2001, Vaccine.

[30]  M. Nuebling,et al.  Attitudes of homoeopathic physicians towards vaccination. , 2001, Vaccine.

[31]  L E Rodewald,et al.  Effect of patient reminder/recall interventions on immunization rates: A review. , 2000, JAMA.

[32]  R. Kellerman,et al.  Enhancing influenza immunization. Postcard and telephone reminders and the challenge of immunization site shift. , 2000, Archives of family medicine.

[33]  H. Vorkauf,et al.  A national measles epidemic in Switzerland in 1997 : consequences for the elimination of measles by the year 2007. , 2000, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin.

[34]  R. M. May,et al.  Immunisation and herd immunity , 1990, The Lancet.

[35]  D. Brambilla,et al.  A comparison of responses to mailed questionnaires and telephone interviews in a mixed mode health survey. , 1987, American journal of epidemiology.

[36]  J. Stockman.  Measles in Europe: an epidemiological assessment , 2010 .

[37]  N. Khardori.  Pertussis Disease Burden in the Household: How to Protect Young Infants , 2010 .

[38]  R. Klevens,et al.  Evaluation of invalid vaccine doses. , 2004, American journal of preventive medicine.