Australian childhood immunisation coverage, 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, assessed as at 30 June 2015

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS) provides commentary on the trends in the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register data for children vaccinated at 12, 24 and 60 months of age. This report provides rolling annualised Australian childhood immunisation coverage estimates for the 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 period.

Page last updated: 24 December 2015

Brynley P Hull for the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases

Introduction

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS) provides commentary on the trends in ACIR data. For further information please contact NCIRS at: telephone +61 2 9845 1435, email: brynley.hull@health.nsw.gov.au

Tables 1, 2 and 3 provide the latest quarterly report on childhood immunisation coverage from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) for all children.

The data show the percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ at 12 months, 24 months and 60 months, for four 3-month birth cohorts of children assessed at the stated ages between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015 using ACIR data up to 30 June 2015. ‘Fully immunised’ refers to vaccines on the National Immunisation Program Schedule, but excludes rotavirus, and is outlined in more detail below.

‘Fully immunised’ at 12 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 3 doses of a diphtheria (D), tetanus (T) and pertussis-containing (P) vaccine, 3 doses of polio vaccine, 2 or 3 doses of PRP-OMP containing Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine or 3 doses of any other Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine, 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine, and 3 doses of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. ‘Fully immunised’ at 24 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 3 doses of a DTP-containing vaccine, 3 doses of polio vaccine, 3 or 4 doses of PRP-OMP Hib vaccine or 4 doses of any other Hib vaccine, 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine, 1 dose of a measles, mumps and rubella-containing (MMR) vaccine, 1 dose of meningococcal C vaccine, and 1 dose of varicella vaccine. ‘Fully immunised’ at 60 months of age is defined as a child having a record on the ACIR of 4 doses of a DTP-containing vaccine, 4 doses of polio vaccine, and 2 doses of an MMR-containing vaccine.

A full description of the basic methodology used can be found in Communicable Diseases Intelligence 1998;22(3):36-37.

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Results

The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 12 months of age for Australia increased marginally from the previous report by 0.3 of a percentage point to 91.3% (Table 1). Most jurisdictions experienced small increases in the percentage of children ‘fully immunised’ by 12 months of age. For individual vaccines due by 12 months of age all jurisdictions achieved coverage greater than 90%.

Table 1. Percentage of children immunised at 12 months of age for the birth cohort 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014, preliminary results, by disease and state or territory; assessment date 30 June 2015
Vaccine ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas. Vic. WA Aust.
Total number of children
5,657
98,744
3,795
62,947
20,104
5,971
76,090
34,034
307,342
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (%)
94.1
91.9
91.0
92.4
91.8
91.3
92.1
92.4
92.1
Poliomyelitis (%)
94.0
91.9
91.0
92.4
91.8
91.3
92.1
92.3
92.1
Haemophilus influenzae type b (%)
93.7
91.8
90.9
92.3
91.7
91.2
91.9
92.1
92.0
Hepatitis B (%)
93.5
91.6
91.0
92.2
91.6
91.1
91.7
91.9
91.8
Pneumococcal
93.8
91.6
91.1
92.2
91.5
91.2
91.8
91.9
91.8
Fully immunised (%)
92.9
91.1
90.5
91.9
91.2
90.7
91.2
91.4
91.3

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The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 24 months of age for Australia decreased again for the 2nd consecutive report by 0.9 percentage points to 89.2% (Table 2). This decrease is due to the immunisation coverage assessment algorithm for the 24-month milestone being amended in July 2014 to include a dose of meningococcal vaccine, a dose of varicella vaccine and a 2nd dose of MMR in the assessment of ‘fully immunised’. All jurisdictions experienced similar decreases in fully immunised coverage for this age group. Coverage for individual vaccines due by 24 months remained high in all jurisdictions, except that coverage in all jurisdictions again decreased for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (by 0.7 to 1.2 percentage points, and 0.9 nationally). This decrease is due to the immunisation coverage assessment algorithm for the MMR vaccine being amended in July 2014 to look for a 2nd dose of MMR vaccine, rather than a 1st dose.

Table 2. Percentage of children immunised at 24 months of age for the birth cohort 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, preliminary results, by disease and state or territory; assessment date 30 June 2015
Vaccine ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas. Vic. WA Aust.
Total number of children
5,531
101,192
3,600
63,189
20,218
5,889
76,870
34,281
310,770
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (%)
96.1
95.1
95.2
95.0
94.8
95.1
95.6
94.8
95.2
Poliomyelitis (%)
96.1
95.0
95.3
95.0
94.7
95.0
95.6
94.7
95.1
Haemophilus influenzae type b (%)
95.0
93.7
94.9
94.2
93.4
93.5
94.4
93.5
94.0
Measles, mumps, rubella (%)
93.1
91.0
92.1
91.9
90.4
90.2
91.5
89.8
91.2
Hepatitis B (%)
95.7
94.6
95.3
94.6
94.4
94.8
95.2
94.2
94.7
Meningococcal C (%)
94.7
93.5
94.4
94.1
92.6
93.7
93.9
92.7
93.6
Varicella (%)
94.4
91.2
90.4
91.5
90.3
89.1
91.9
90.1
91.3
Fully immunised (%)
91.4
88.8
89.3
90.4
87.9
87.5
89.6
87.7
89.2

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The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 60 months of age for Australia increased marginally from the previous report by 0.1 of a percentage point to 92.3% (Table 3). This maintains the improvement in coverage for this age milestone. There were also only marginal changes in fully immunised coverage at 60 months of age in all jurisdictions. Coverage for individual vaccines due by 60 months remained greater than 90% in all jurisdictions.

Table 3. Percentage of children immunised at 60 months of age for the birth cohort 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, preliminary results, by disease and state or territory; assessment date 30 June 2015
Vaccine ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas. Vic. WA Aust.
Total number of children
5,559
101,107
3,517
65,254
20,290
6,385
76,035
34,222
312,369
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (%)
93.8
93.2
93.1
92.8
91.5
93.4
93.2
91.2
92.8
Poliomyelitis (%)
93.8
93.2
93.1
92.8
91.5
93.3
93.2
91.2
92.8
Measles, mumps, rubella (%)
93.5
93.2
93.5
92.8
91.4
93.2
93.1
91.1
92.8
Fully immunised (%)
93.2
92.7
92.4
92.3
90.9
92.6
92.6
90.6
92.2

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Figure: Trends in vaccination coverage, Australia, 1997 to 31 March 2015, by age cohorts

line chart. text description follows

Text version of Figure (TXT 1 KB)

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