Vaccine
Volume 35, Issue 3, Pages 411-502 (11 January 2017)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/35/3

Letter to the Editor
Ensuring access to oral cholera vaccine to those who need them most
Francisco J. Luquero, Anne Ballard, David A. Sack
[No abstract]

Pneumonia prevention: Cost-effectiveness analyses of two vaccines among refugee children aged under two years, Haemophilus influenzae type b-containing and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, during a humanitarian emergency, Yida camp, South Sudan
Original Research Article
Pages 435-442
Lisa M. Gargano, Rana Hajjeh, Susan T. Cookson
Abstract
By September 2013, war between Sudan and South Sudan resulted in >70,000 Sudanese refugees and high pneumonia incidence among the 20,000 refugees in Yida camp, South Sudan. Using Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-provided data and modifying our decision-tree models, we estimated if administering Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)-containing (pentavalent vaccine, also with diphtheria pertussis and tetanus [DPT] and hepatitis B) and pneumococcal conjugate (PCV) vaccines were cost-effective against hospitalized pneumonia. Among children

Vaccine coverage and adherence to EPI schedules in eight resource poor settings in the MAL-ED cohort study
Original Research Article
Pages 443-451
Christel Hoest, Jessica C. Seidman, Gwenyth Lee, James A Platts-Mills, Asad Ali, Maribel Paredes Olortegui, Pascal Bessong, Ram Chandyo, Sudhir Babji, Venkata Raghava Mohan, Dinesh Mondal, Mustafa Mahfuz, Estomih R Mduma, Emanuel Nyathi, Claudia Abreu, Mark A. Miller, William Pan, Carl J. Mason, Stacey L. Knobler, the MAL-ED Network Investigators
Abstract
Background
Launched in 1974, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is estimated to prevent two-three million deaths annually from polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, pertussis, measles, and tetanus. Additional lives could be saved through better understanding what influences adherence to the EPI schedule in specific settings.
Methods
The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study followed cohorts in eight sites in South Asia, Africa, and South America and monitored vaccine receipt over the first two years of life for the children enrolled in the study. Vaccination histories were obtained monthly from vaccination cards, local clinic records and/or caregiver reports. Vaccination histories were compared against the prescribed EPI schedules for each country, and coverage rates were examined in relation to the timing of vaccination. The influence of socioeconomic factors on vaccine timing and coverage was also considered.
Results
Coverage rates for EPI vaccines varied between sites and by type of vaccine; overall, coverage was highest in the Nepal and Bangladesh sites and lowest in the Tanzania and Brazil sites. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin coverage was high across all sites, 87–100%, whereas measles vaccination rates ranged widely, 73–100%. Significant delays between the scheduled administration age and actual vaccination date were present in all sites, especially for measles vaccine where less than 40% were administered on schedule. A range of socioeconomic factors were significantly associated with vaccination status in study children but these results were largely site-specific.
Conclusions
Our findings highlight the need to improve measles vaccination rates and reduce delayed vaccination to achieve EPI targets related to the establishment of herd immunity and reduction in disease transmission.
Special Section: Immunology and vaccinology of respiratory syncytial virus infections (Guest Editors: D. Altmann and C. Chiu)