| Title |
Under-vaccination in pediatric liver transplant candidates with acute and chronic liver disease-a retrospective observational study of the European reference network transplantchild / |
| Authors |
Laue, Tobias ; Demir, Zeynep ; Debray, Dominique ; Cananzi, Mara ; Gaio, Paola ; Casotti, Valeria ; D’Antiga, Lorenzo ; Urbonas, Vaidotas ; Baumann, Ulrich |
| DOI |
10.3390/children8080675 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Children.. Basel : MDPI AG. 2021, vol. 8, no. 8, art. no. 675, p. [1-12].. eISSN 2227-9067 |
| Keywords [eng] |
pediatric liver transplantation ; vaccination ; immunization ; TransplantChild |
| Abstract [eng] |
Infection is a serious concern in the short and long term after pediatric liver transplantation. Vaccination represents an easy and cheap opportunity to reduce morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable infection. This retrospective, observational, multi-center study examines the immunization status in pediatric liver transplant candidates at the time of transplantation and compares it to a control group of children with acute liver disease. Findings show only 80% were vaccinated age-appropriately, defined as having received the recommended number of vaccination doses for their age prior to transplantation; for DTP-PV-Hib, less than 75% for Hepatitis B and two-thirds for pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in children with chronic liver disease. Vaccination coverage for live vaccines is better compared to the acute control group with 81% versus 62% for measles, mumps and rubella (p = 0.003) and 65% versus 55% for varicella (p = 0.171). Nevertheless, a country-specific comparison with national reference data suggests a lower vaccination coverage in children with chronic liver disease. Our study reveals an under-vaccination in this high-risk group prior to transplantation and underlines the need to improve vaccination. |
| Published |
Basel : MDPI AG |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2021 |
| CC license |
|
