Pediatric admission for vaccine preventable diseases: a 5-year survey from 1994 to 1998 in Aichi Prefecture.
Several infectious childhood diseases can be prevented by vaccination. A survey of hospital admissions for such diseases was conducted in Aichi Prefecture over 5 years beginning in 1994. A questionnaire was sent annually to hospitals with 100 or more beds to obtain information on pediatric patients requiring hospitalization for 10 vaccine preventable diseases. Information was obtained on 3,953 patients. Most admissions were for measles (49%), followed by mumps, chickenpox, pertussis, rubella, and tuberculosis. Over half of the patients were under 3 years old, with 20% aged under 12 months, 25% aged from 12 months to 2 years, and 10% aged from 2 to 3 years. The average hospital stay was longest for tuberculosis and pertussis, and was around 1 week for the other diseases. Familial transmission was the most common source of infection identified. The only death was an unvaccinated patient with measles pneumonia. Sequelae were reported at the time of discharge in 15 patients (0.4%), and were permanent in some cases. Some 96% of the patients surveyed were unvaccinated against the disease causing hospitalization. The fact that there were 14 patients with sequelae and the one patient who died were unvaccinated, emphasizes the need to promote vaccination.
Ozaki
T
T
Department of Pediatrics, Showa Hospital, Kohnan, Japan.
Morishima
T
T
Hirota
T
T
Sugiyama
K
K
Asano
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*