Routine Vaccination Rates For Children And Adolescents In Canada Have Dropped Dramatically Since The Start Of The Covid 19 Pandemic

As students across the country begin what many hope will be the most typical school year since the start of the pandemic, doctors and public health experts are increasingly concerned about a significant increase in the number of young people who do not are vaccinated against potentially serious infectious diseases. Pandemic-related disruptions, including school closures and reduced access to clinics, have led to a significant drop in vaccination uptake by children and adolescents. This, combined with a widespread return to face-to-face learning, an increase in travel to areas where viruses such as measles are still spreading and a rise in misinformation, could set the stage for an increase in cases in schools. “There is no doubt that the pandemic has prevented students from getting vaccines,” said Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health with Toronto Public Health. “If an infectious disease occurs in the school environment, it can spread quite quickly.” Only 55 per cent of Toronto students are up-to-date on the nine routine vaccines that protect against polio, measles, whooping cough and other diseases included in the province’s immunization law, said Dr. Dubey. Nine is required for children to attend school, unless they receive an exemption. It is possible that the 55 per cent figure underestimates vaccine coverage, as public health officials in Ontario rely on parents to report their children’s vaccination status, and officials’ ability to monitor routine immunization status has been hampered by the focus to COVID-19. This means that it is difficult to determine how much vaccination rates have changed since the start of the pandemic as public health resources have shifted to responding to the pandemic. The most recent data in Nova Scotia is from the 2018-19 school year. In BC, the most recent data is from the 2019-20 school year, which was partially disrupted. Ontario’s full report for the 2020-21 school year is due to be released this fall. But the evidence that is available suggests large gaps in vaccine coverage. In Saskatchewan, only 73 per cent of two-year-olds are vaccinated against measles and whooping cough, according to a provincial report released in August, compared to 81 per cent in 2018. There must be a 95 per cent coverage rate in order to to prevent measles outbreaks. A study published in the journal Vaccine in March, using data from electronic primary care health records in Toronto, found that among children under the age of two, the up-to-date vaccination rate dropped to 67 percent at the end of 2020 from 71 percent before pandemic. While there has been a decline in vaccine uptake among babies and young children, experts say the biggest declines appear to be for vaccines commonly given in schools: the human papillomavirus, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines. In Alberta, HPV vaccination coverage fell to 6.6 per cent in 2020-21 from 66 per cent in 2017-18, according to data from a preprinted study based on provincial health data. In Ontario, less than 1 per cent of 12-year-olds had received HPV vaccines, which help prevent cervical cancer, in the 2020-21 school year, compared to 58 per cent in the 2018-19 school year, according to an essay. from Public Health Ontario. Hepatitis B vaccine uptake fell to 16.8 per cent in 2020-21 from 25 per cent in 2019-20. And uptake of the meningococcal vaccine fell to 17.3 per cent in 2020-21 from 67.2 per cent in 2019-20. Experts say these gaps in vaccine coverage need urgent attention, given the risk of new outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Last week, Toronto Public Health confirmed three cases of invasive bacterial meningococcal disease — which causes severe, often fatal, disease — among people born in countries that do not provide immunization against the disease. One has died and the Toronto agency is advising unvaccinated people aged 20 to 36 to get vaccinated. While school closings and other pandemic disruptions are believed to be the driving factor behind lower vaccination rates, there are concerns that misinformation and misinformation may also be playing a role. Dr. Dubey pointed to misinformation about the HPV vaccine that was prevalent before the pandemic and contributed to lower overall uptake. “The HPV vaccine is probably one of our most effective vaccines,” he said. “However the rates for this vaccine are among our lowest and a lot of that was the role that misinformation played when this vaccine came out.” Shannon MacDonald, who has been studying vaccine uptake during the pandemic, said there is a group of people who are opposed to vaccines and it will be difficult to change their minds. But for many, gaps in coverage are due to life circumstances that make getting a vaccine appointment a significant challenge. “I would say even before the pandemic, when you looked at who was behind vaccines, it wasn’t people who were adamantly opposed to vaccines. They were people who had busy lives, lots of kids, maybe complicated lifestyles where housing is transient or jobs are scarce,” said Dr. MacDonald, who is an associate professor at the University of Alberta’s school of nursing. “These are the people who have every intention of vaccinating their children, but are challenged by it.” Ensuring that these children catch up on their vaccines will depend on making it easy for these families to access, Dr. MacDonald said, such as through in-school clinics. A new global outbreak of monkeypox and reports of polio in New York state and London underscore the importance of making sure more young people are informed about their vaccinations, said Manish Sadarangani, director of the Vaccine Evaluation Center at BC Children’s Hospital Research. Institute. “We live in a global society and moving between different parts of the world is very easy and very common,” he said. “Everything is everyone’s problem.” Noah Ivers, a family physician at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, said it will be a challenge to get vaccine programs back on track because provinces like Ontario don’t have a vaccine registry that would allow health authorities to quickly see who is behind their shots. “I think we have a lot of logistical and communication work ahead of us to catch up,” he said. But the provinces were able to quickly set up vaccine registries to track the administration of the COVID-19 shots, which experts say shows a similar system could be set up for routine childhood vaccinations. “We have shown that we can build these information systems. I think there’s no reason why this can’t be done across the population,” said Dr. Sadarangani. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Routine Vaccination Rates For Children And Adolescents In Canada Have Dropped Dramatically Since The Start Of The Covid 19 Pandemic Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Christi Gostlin”

title: “Routine Vaccination Rates For Children And Adolescents In Canada Have Dropped Dramatically Since The Start Of The Covid 19 Pandemic Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Eileen Shevlin”

title: “Routine Vaccination Rates For Children And Adolescents In Canada Have Dropped Dramatically Since The Start Of The Covid 19 Pandemic Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-26” author: “Mario Overstreet”