title: Vaccination coverage in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 2005.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In July 2005, a house-to-house survey was conducted to determine vaccination coverage achieved through routine health services on the three inhabited islands (Saipan, Rota, and Tinian) of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  A population-based cluster survey was conducted on Saipan; clusters and households were selected by systematic random sampling. On the smaller islands of Rota and Tinian, all households were visited. Vaccination histories and demographic information were obtained during household interview for all children aged 19-35 months, children aged 6 years, and adults aged 65 years and older. Vaccination histories for children were supplemented by hospital/clinic records and an electronic vaccination registry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 295 children aged 19-35 months, estimated coverage with the primary vaccination series was 80 percent; coverage with individual vaccines was generally higher. Among 193 children aged 6 years, coverage for vaccines required at school-aged was 83 percent. Among 226 adults aged 65 years and older, 52 percent received influenza vaccine during the previous season while 21 percent had ever received pneumococcal vaccine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CNMI has achieved the US Healthy People 2010 objective of 80 percent coverage for the standard vaccination series among children aged 19-35 months. High coverage levels among 6-year-old children may reflect the benefit of school entry requirements. Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination among older adults remains low. Efforts to ensure that children and older adults throughout the CNMI are equally well-protected should continue. Strategies to address parental awareness of vaccinations that are due should be explored and may be facilitated by upgrading the electronic vaccination registry.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. ECL7@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Elizabeth T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Luman
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sablan
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anaya
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stokley
authors.forename: Mary Mason
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: McCauley
authors.forename: Kate M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balajadia
authors.forename: Jean Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaine
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008849:Micronesia; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*