Influenza vaccine coverage rates in Golden Jubilee Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, 2015-2017

Abstract

Background: The Thai government purchases seasonal influenza vaccines for some high-risk groups but the state-funded influenza vaccination program does not cover all high-risk populations. People, both high-risk and healthy populations, who are not vaccinated by the government influenza vaccination program and need influenza vaccine immunization can contact all hospitals, including the Golden Jubilee Medical Center, by themselves to get vaccinated. Over the past years more and more people have decided to receive influenza vaccine. To stay updated on the current trend of influenza vaccination, the researchers wanted to find out the vaccine coverage rates in different high-risk groups and percentage of vaccine distribution. Methods: The retrospective chart review of the population who received influenza vaccination at the Golden Jubilee Medical Center during 2015-2017 were analyzed by high-risk category. Patients’ demographic data and medical history (i.e. age, sex, body mass index, underlying diseases) were collected for the calculation of influenza vaccine coverage rate and percentage of vaccine distribution. Vaccine coverage was defined as the proportion of individuals in each category who received the vaccine. Results: Vaccine utilization rate has increased by 139% between 2015-2017. The number of male population who received influenza vaccine was found to have increased slightly. The average age of vaccinated populations has decreased. Approximately 72.6% of vaccine doses were administered to persons aged ≥65 years and those with underlying health conditions, 8.9% to healthcare workers, 0.2% to children aged 6 months - 2 years, 2.3% to obese persons. Between 2015-2017, Influenza vaccine coverage rates were found to have steadily increased among healthcare workers (from 36.3%to 93.5%), persons aged ≥65 years (from 12.6% to 15.9%), children aged 6 months - 2 years (from N/A to 7.8%). However, no increase in vaccine coverage was observed among persons with chronic diseases and obese persons. Conclusions: From 2015-2017, influenza vaccine utilization rates had generally increased. Influenza vaccination coverage rate among person aged ≥65 years and children aged 6 months-2 years were higher than that of the national level. High risk groups who received the most influenza vaccine were those aged ≥ 65 years and those with underlying disease.