Rates of vaccine coverage immediately after birth are very low for BCG and HepB-BD in neonates in sub-Saharan Africa

Objectives:
Depending on the epidemiological context of each country, three vaccines are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be administered as soon as possible after birth (birth vaccines); namely, BCG, zero dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV0) and birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB-BD). The timely administration of these vaccines immediately after birth might pose significant challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, where about half of childbirths occur outside health facilities. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.

What is the coverage rate of BCG, zero dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV0) and birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB-BD) vaccines at a specific timing in neonates in sub-Saharan Africa?

Study design:
This review article included 20 cross-sectional studies, 7 prospective cohort studies and 4 retrospective cohort studies with 204,111 infants.
The number of studies assessing BCG, OPV0 and HepB-BD was 23, 15 and 8, respectively

Results and conclusions:
The investigators found the pooled coverage rates at day 0-1 after birth were 14.2% [95% CI = 10.1 to 18.9] for BCG and 1.3% [95% CI = 0.0 to 4.5] for HepB-BD. No data were available for OPV0 at day 0-1.

The investigators found the coverage at day 28 was 71.7% [95% CI = 63.7 to 79.2)] for BCG, 60.8% [95% CI = 45.8 to 74.7] for HepB-BD and 76.1% [95% CI = 67.1 to 84.0] for OPV0.

The investigators found no significant difference in the vaccine coverage between infants born in healthcare facilities and those born outside facilities.

The investigators concluded the rates of vaccine coverage immediately after birth are very low for BCG and HepB-BD and no data for OPV0 in neonates in sub-Saharan Africa. Additional data are needed to better define barriers and facilitators for the timely administration of the birth vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa, since the delay in its provision may increase the burden of these vaccine-preventable diseases.

Original title:
Coverage and Timeliness of Birth Dose Vaccination in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Bassoum O, Kimura M, […], Shimakawa Y.

Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7350240/

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