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Prevalence and Trends of Not Receiving a Dose of DPT-Containing Vaccine Among Children 12-35 Months : An Analysis of 81 Low- And Middle-Income Countries

Karlsson, Omar LU ; Rajpal, Sunil ; Johri, Mira ; Kim, Rockli and Subramanian, S V (2024) In Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health 14(4). p.1490-1503
Abstract

Not receiving a DPT-containing vaccine in early childhood indicates an absence of routine immunization, which puts children at an elevated risk of mortality, morbidity, and worse human development over the life course. We estimated the percentage of children 12-35 months who did not receive a dose of DPT-containing vaccine (termed zero-dose children) using household surveys from 81 low- and middle-income countries conducted between 2014 and 2023. For 68 countries with more than one survey (with the earlier survey conducted 2000-2013), we estimated the average annual percentage point change in prevalence of zero-dose children between the earliest and latest surveys. We also explored the association of zero-dose prevalence with... (More)

Not receiving a DPT-containing vaccine in early childhood indicates an absence of routine immunization, which puts children at an elevated risk of mortality, morbidity, and worse human development over the life course. We estimated the percentage of children 12-35 months who did not receive a dose of DPT-containing vaccine (termed zero-dose children) using household surveys from 81 low- and middle-income countries conducted between 2014 and 2023. For 68 countries with more than one survey (with the earlier survey conducted 2000-2013), we estimated the average annual percentage point change in prevalence of zero-dose children between the earliest and latest surveys. We also explored the association of zero-dose prevalence with postneonatal and child mortality, health expenditure, and Gavi-eligibility. Overall, 16% of children in our pooled sample had not received a dose of DPT-containing vaccine. There was a 0.8% point decline in zero-dose prevalence per year on average across the period studied. A single percentage point average annual decline in zero-dose prevalence was associated with an average annual decrease of 1.4 deaths in the postneonatal and childhood period per 1000 live births. Gavi-eligible countries had a much faster decline in zero-dose prevalence than other countries. Large gains have been made in reducing the percentage of children who did not receive a DPT-containing vaccine. Efforts to reduce the number of zero-dose children should focus on countries with high prevalence to achieve the Immunization Agenda 2030. Healthcare spending could be prioritized so that the prevalence of zero-dose children is reduced.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
DPT-containing vaccines, Zero dose children, Low- and middle-income countries, Average annual change
in
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
volume
14
issue
4
pages
14 pages
publisher
Atlantis Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85204307364
  • pmid:39298110
ISSN
2210-6014
DOI
10.1007/s44197-024-00294-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2024. The Author(s).
id
a3d03cd3-6519-470d-b371-ac4913f6782c
date added to LUP
2024-09-30 14:49:43
date last changed
2025-07-23 07:17:59
@article{a3d03cd3-6519-470d-b371-ac4913f6782c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Not receiving a DPT-containing vaccine in early childhood indicates an absence of routine immunization, which puts children at an elevated risk of mortality, morbidity, and worse human development over the life course. We estimated the percentage of children 12-35 months who did not receive a dose of DPT-containing vaccine (termed zero-dose children) using household surveys from 81 low- and middle-income countries conducted between 2014 and 2023. For 68 countries with more than one survey (with the earlier survey conducted 2000-2013), we estimated the average annual percentage point change in prevalence of zero-dose children between the earliest and latest surveys. We also explored the association of zero-dose prevalence with postneonatal and child mortality, health expenditure, and Gavi-eligibility. Overall, 16% of children in our pooled sample had not received a dose of DPT-containing vaccine. There was a 0.8% point decline in zero-dose prevalence per year on average across the period studied. A single percentage point average annual decline in zero-dose prevalence was associated with an average annual decrease of 1.4 deaths in the postneonatal and childhood period per 1000 live births. Gavi-eligible countries had a much faster decline in zero-dose prevalence than other countries. Large gains have been made in reducing the percentage of children who did not receive a DPT-containing vaccine. Efforts to reduce the number of zero-dose children should focus on countries with high prevalence to achieve the Immunization Agenda 2030. Healthcare spending could be prioritized so that the prevalence of zero-dose children is reduced.</p>}},
  author       = {{Karlsson, Omar and Rajpal, Sunil and Johri, Mira and Kim, Rockli and Subramanian, S V}},
  issn         = {{2210-6014}},
  keywords     = {{DPT-containing vaccines; Zero dose children; Low- and middle-income countries; Average annual change}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{1490--1503}},
  publisher    = {{Atlantis Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health}},
  title        = {{Prevalence and Trends of Not Receiving a Dose of DPT-Containing Vaccine Among Children 12-35 Months : An Analysis of 81 Low- And Middle-Income Countries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s44197-024-00294-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s44197-024-00294-6}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}