TY - JOUR
TI - National immunization strategies targeting migrants in six European
countries
AU - Giambi, Cristina
AU - Del Manso, Martina
AU - Dalla Zuanna, Teresa and
AU - Riccardo, Flavia
AU - Bella, Antonino
AU - Caporali, Maria Grazia and
AU - Baka, Agoritsa
AU - Caks-Jager, Nuska
AU - Melillo, Tanya
AU - Mexia,
AU - Ricardo
AU - Petrovic, Goranka
AU - Declich, Silvia
AU - Ali, Karam Adel
AU - and Dente, Maria Grazia
AU - Lannazzo, Stefania
AU - Kaic, Bernard and
AU - Napoli, Christian
AU - Panagiotopoulos, Takis
AU - Pereira, Filipa and
AU - CARE Working Grp Natl Immuniza
JO - Vaccine
PY - 2019
VL - 37
TODO - 32
SP - 4610-4617
PB - Elsevier Sci Ltd, Exeter, United Kingdom
SN - 0264-410X
TODO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.01.060
TODO - Migrants; Vaccination; Infectious diseases; Europe
TODO - Over the last three years an unprecedented flow of migrants arrived in
Europe. There is evidence that vaccine preventable diseases have caused
outbreaks in migrant holding centres. These outbreaks can be favored by
a combination of factors including low immunization coverage, bad
conditions that migrants face during their exhausting journey and
overcrowding within holding facilities. In 2017, we conducted an online
survey in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia to
explore the national immunization strategies targeting irregular
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. All countries stated that a
national regulation supporting vaccination offer to migrants is
available. Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia offer to migrant
children and adolescents all vaccinations included in the National
Immunization Plan; Greece and Malta offer only certain vaccinations,
including those against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, poliomyelitis and
measles-mumps-rubella. Croatia, Italy, Malta and Portugal also extend
the vaccination offer to adults. All countries deliver vaccinations in
holding centres and/or community health services, no one delivers
vaccinations at entry site. Operating procedures that guarantee the
migrants' access to vaccination at the community level are available
only in Portugal. Data on administered vaccines is available at the
national level in four countries: individual data in Malta and Croatia,
aggregated data in Greece and Portugal. Data on vaccination uptake among
migrants is available at national level only in Malta. Concluding,
although diversified, strategies for migrant vaccination are in place in
all the surveyed countries and generally in line with WHO and ECDC
indications. Development of procedures to keep track of migrants'
immunization data across countries, development of strategies to
facilitate and monitor migrants' access to vaccinations at the community
level and collection of data on vaccination uptake among migrants should
be promoted to meet existing gaps. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by
Elsevier Ltd.
ER -