Australian childhood immunisation coverage, April to June cohort, assessed as at 30 September 2014

Brynley P Hull for the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases

Introduction

‘The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS) provides commentary on the trends in ACIR data. For further information please contact NCIRS at: telephone +61 2 9845 1435, email: brynley.hull@health.nsw.gov.au

Tables 1, 2 and 3 provide the latest quarterly report on childhood immunisation coverage from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) for all children.

The data show the percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ at 12 months, 24 months and 60 months, for 3-month birth cohorts of children assessed at the stated ages between 1 April and 30 June 2014 using ACIR data as at 30 September 2014. ‘Fully immunised’ refers to vaccines on the National Immunisation Program Schedule, but excludes rotavirus, varicella, and meningococcal C conjugate vaccines, and is outlined in more detail below.

‘Fully immunised’ at 12 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 3 doses of a diphtheria (D), tetanus (T) and pertussis-containing (P) vaccine, 3 doses of polio vaccine, 2 or 3 doses of PRP-OMP containing Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine or 3 doses of any other Hib vaccine, 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine, and 3 doses of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. ‘Fully immunised’ at 24 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 3 doses of a DTP-containing vaccine, 3 doses of polio vaccine, 3 or 4 doses of PRP-OMP Hib vaccine or 4 doses of any other Hib vaccine, 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine, and 1 dose of a measles, mumps and rubella-containing (MMR) vaccine. ‘Fully immunised’ at 60 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 4 doses of a DTP-containing vaccine, 4 doses of polio vaccine, and 2 doses of an MMR-containing vaccine.

A full description of the basic methodology used can be found in Commun Dis Intell 1998;22(3):36–37.

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Results

The percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ by 12 months of age for Australia increased from the previous quarter by 0.6 of a percentage point to 91.5% (Table 1). Most jurisdictions experienced small increases in the percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ by 12 months of age. For individual vaccines due by 12 months of age a majority of jurisdictions achieved coverage greater than 91%.

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The percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ by 24 months of age for Australia increased marginally from the previous quarter by 0.2 of a percentage point to 92.8 (Table 2). There were also only marginal changes in fully immunised coverage at 24 months of age in all jurisdictions. Coverage for individual vaccines due by 24 months remained high in all jurisdictions.

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The percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ by 60 months of age for Australia increased marginally from the previous quarter by 0.3 of a percentage point to 92.0% (Table 3). This maintains the improvement in coverage for this age milestone. There were also only marginal changes in fully immunised coverage at 24 months of age in all jurisdictions. Coverage for individual vaccines due by 60 months remained greater than 90% in all jurisdictions.

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Figure: Trends in vaccination coverage, Australia, 1997 to 31 March 2014 2014, by age cohorts

Text version of the Figure (TXT 1 KB)

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