Journal of Community Health
Volume 41, Issue 2, April 2016
http://link.springer.com/journal/10900/41/2/page/1

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Commentary
Taxi Drivers: A Target Population for the Prevention of Transmissible Disease?
Heather M. Limper, Jennifer L. Burns, Kenneth A. Alexander
Abstract
We set out to assess the feasibility and uptake of an on-site influenza vaccination campaign targeting taxi drivers in airport taxicab lots in Chicago, Illinois. Influenza vaccine was provided by the Chicago Department of Public Health as this event aligned with ongoing efforts to provide influenza vaccinations throughout the city. Clinicians and clinic support staff were volunteers recruited from the University of Chicago Medicine and incorporated nursing staff, physicians, physician residents, and administrative support. Together, this allowed for a cost-effective approach to provide free influenza vaccines to the primarily uninsured taxi driver population. During these events, 545 taxi drivers received influenza vaccine in 2012 while 354 drivers were immunized in 2013. Nearly all drivers reported uninsured or under-insured status. The ability to use volunteers and healthcare organization’s desires to meet the needs of the community, in collaboration with often under-staffed but highly dedicated local health departments have the potential to offer valuable public health services to underserved members of the community. Educational initiatives targeting vaccine hesitancy and misinformation may be necessary to improve immunization coverage among this population.

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Original Paper
Effects of Community Health Nurse-Led Intervention on Childhood Routine Immunization Completion in Primary Health Care Centers in Ibadan, Nigeria
V. B. Brown, O. A. Oluwatosin, J. O. Akinyemi, A. A. Adeyemo
Abstract
Immunization coverage of vulnerable children is often sub-optimal in many low- and middle-income countries. The use of a reminder/recall (R/R) system has been one of the strategies shown to be effective in improving immunization rates. In the resent study, we evaluated the effect of R/R and Primary Health Care Immunization Providers’ Training (PHCIPT) intervention on routine immunization completion among 595 infants in Ibadan, Nigeria. The design was a group randomized controlled trial with Local Government Area (LGA) being the unit of randomization. Four randomly selected LGAs were randomized to receive a cellphone R/R only (A), a PHCIPT only (B); combined R/R and PHCIPT (C) intervention or serve as a control group (D). Children aged 0–12 weeks were consecutively recruited into each group and followed up for 12 months. The primary outcome measure was routine immunization completion at 12 months of age. At the study endpoint, immunization completion rates were: group A, 98.6 %; group B, 70 %; group C, 97.3 %; and group D, 57.3 %. Compared to the control group, the cellphone R/R group was 72 % (RR 1.72, 95 % CI 1.50–1.98) and the combined RR/PHCIPT group 70 % (RR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.47–1.95) more likely to complete immunization. In contrast, immunization completion in the PHCIPT group was marginally different from the control group (RR 1.22, 95 % CI 1.03–1.45). These findings remained robust to adjustment for potential predictors of immunization completion as covariates. In conclusion, cellphone reminder/recall was effective in improving immunization completion in this Nigerian setting. Its use is recommended for large scale implementation.

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Original Paper
A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Evaluate a Mother–Daughter Dyadic Educational Intervention for Increasing HPV Vaccination Coverage in American Indian Girls
Rachel L. Winer, Angela A. Gonzales, Carolyn J. Noonan…
Abstract
We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to American Indian mothers affected HPV vaccination rates in their adolescent daughters. In March–April 2012, we recruited Hopi mothers or female guardians with daughters aged 9–12 years for a cluster-randomized intervention study on the Hopi Reservation. Participants attended mother-daughter dinners featuring educational presentations for mothers on either HPV (intervention) or juvenile diabetes (control) and completed baseline surveys. Eleven months later, we surveyed mothers on their daughters’ HPV vaccine uptake. We also reviewed aggregated immunization reports from the Indian Health Service to assess community-level HPV vaccination coverage from 2007 to 2013. Ninety-seven mother-daughter dyads participated; nine mothers reported that their daughters completed the three-dose HPV vaccination series before recruitment. Among the remaining mothers, 63 % completed the follow-up survey. Adjusting for household income, the proportion of daughters completing vaccination within 11 months post-intervention was similar in the intervention and control groups (32 vs. 28 %, adjusted RR = 1.2, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.6–2.3). Among unvaccinated daughters, those whose mothers received HPV education were more likely to initiate vaccination (50 vs. 27 %, adjusted RR = 2.6, 95 % CI 1.4–4.9) and complete three doses (adjusted RR = 4.0, 95 % CI 1.2–13.1) than girls whose mothers received diabetes education. Community-level data showed that 80 % of girls aged 13–17 years and 20 % of girls aged 11–12 completed the vaccination series by 2013. HPV vaccine uptake in Hopi girls aged 13–17 years is significantly higher than the U.S. national average. Brief educational presentations on HPV delivered to American Indian mothers might increase HPV vaccination rates in daughters aged 9–12 years.