[The use of administrative health databases in infectious disease epidemiology and public health]

BACKGROUND

The public health burden resulting from infectious diseases requires efforts in surveillance and evaluation of health care. The use of administrative health databases (AHD) and in particular the French national health insurance database (SNIIRAM) is an opportunity to improve knowledge in this field. The SNIIRAM data network (REDSIAM) workshop dedicated to infectious diseases conducted a narrative literature review of studies using French AHD. From the results, benefits and limits of these new tools in the field of infectious diseases are presented.

METHODS

Publications identified by the members of the workgroup were collected using an analytical framework that documented the pathology of interest, the aim of the study, the goal of the developed algorithm, the kind of data, the study period, and the presence of an evaluation or a discussion of the performance of the performed algorithm.

RESULTS

Fifty-five articles were identified. A majority focused on the field of vaccination coverage and joint infections. Excluding vaccine coverage field, the aim of 28 studies was epidemiological surveillance. Twenty-six studies used hospital databases exclusively, 18 used ambulatory databases exclusively and 4 used both. Validation or discussion of the performed algorithm was present in 18 studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The literature review confirmed the interest of the French AHD in the infectious diseases field. The AHD are additional tools of the existing surveillance systems and their use will probably be more frequent in the coming years given their advantage and reliability. However, incoming users need to be assisted. Thus, the workgroup will contribute to a reasonable use of AHD and support future developments.

Validity of self-reported vaccination status among French healthcare students

Data on validity of self-reported vaccinations are scarce. This study, performed on healthcare students in Paris (France), aimed to evaluate this validity for occupational vaccinations. The validity of self-reported vaccination status was compared with written information. A total of 432 students were enrolled. Sensitivity rates for BCG, hepatitis B and measles were over 74%. For diphtheria-tetanus-polio and pertussis, sensitivity was below 50%. Specificity was between 70 and 95% for dTP-pertussis, and below 35% for all others. Overall, the validity of self-reported information was low, meaning that checking medical records remains the preferable strategy for assessing immunization status.

[Vaccination coverage in 6-year-old preschool children, France, 2005-2006]

INTRODUCTION

School-based triennial surveys have been implemented in France since 1999 in order to follow up indicators estimating children's health status, including vaccination coverage.

METHODS

The survey was conducted in 2005-2006 in preschools, using a two-stage cross-sectional sampling design (first sampling schools, with pupils then randomly chosen).

RESULTS

Among all the children targeted by the survey, 21,346 of them were selected to show their health booklet (carnet de santé) in which the vaccination part was completed. Vaccination coverage was high for vaccines against tuberculosis (BCG 96.8 %), diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis (four doses: 95.6 %), pertussis (four doses: 95.0 %), Haemophilus influenzae type b (four doses: 89.9 %) and for the first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR 93.7 %, 91.4 %, 91.4 %). It was low for the second dose of MMR (45.1 %, 43.2 %, and 43.3 %) and for hepatitis B (37.9 %). The region where the child attended school, the size of the urban unit, the school sector, the father's profession, and the child's birth rank were associated with MMR (second dose) and hepatitis B coverage.

DISCUSSION - CONCLUSION

In 2005-2006, vaccination coverage for BCG, DTPolio, pertussis, and Hib was stable and satisfactory in 6-year-old children. MMR (first dose) and hepatitis B coverage were insufficient. MMR coverage (second dose) had increased since 2002 but still needs to be improved.

Assessing BCG vaccination coverage and incidence of paediatric tuberculosis following two major changes in BCG vaccination policy in France

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Assessing BCG vaccination coverage and incidence of paediatric tuberculosis following two major changes in BCG vaccination policy in France

We report data on BCG vaccination coverage and paediatric tuberculosis (TB) incidence collected after the disappearance of the multipuncture device for BCG vaccination in January 2006 and the shift from universal to targeted vaccination in July 2007 in France.Vaccination coverage estimates in children for whom BCG is recommended allow assessing whether the recommendations are followed by doctors and/or accepted by the target population. In January and February 2006, BCG sales to the private sector in Îlede-France region were 74.2% and 41.3% of the ones for the same months the previous year. Total sales in 2006 amounted to 57.3% of those in 2005. Coverage decreased immediately after withdrawal of the multipuncture device, and remained generally insufficient in high risk children in the following years. However,the impact on paediatric TB incidence in 2008 seems very limited, although the duration of follow-up is still short. Training of doctors in intra-dermal vaccination and communication on the new vaccination policy should be strengthened