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A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018

Background: Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs) are a leading cause of the high Underfive Mortality Rate (U5MR). Preterm infants are inherently at higher risk of mortality from VPDs. Studies irrefutably show the benefit of vaccinating preterm infants according to their chronological age with the ben...

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Main Author: Petersen, Mishkah
Other Authors: Van Niekerk, Anika
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Petersen, Mishkah
author2 Van Niekerk, Anika
author_browse Petersen, Mishkah
Van Niekerk, Anika
author_facet Van Niekerk, Anika
Petersen, Mishkah
author_sort Petersen, Mishkah
collection Thesis
description Background: Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs) are a leading cause of the high Underfive Mortality Rate (U5MR). Preterm infants are inherently at higher risk of mortality from VPDs. Studies irrefutably show the benefit of vaccinating preterm infants according to their chronological age with the benefit of timely vaccination outweighing unjustified delays. However, later studies have shown an increased risk of adverse events (AEs) following immunisation (AEFI) in preterm infants. This risk has not been uniformly accepted as statistically significant, but the multiple reports have led to subsequent proposed 48–72-hour cardio-respiratory monitoring recommendations which have not been uniformly adopted and may not be feasible in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Objectives: The main objective of this study is to identify the prevalence of major AEs following 6-week immunisation of preterm infants admitted to a busy neonatal unit in Cape Town over a two-year period. AEFI will be scrutinized to ascertain the timing, clinical severity and possible contributing factors. This study aims to identify any consistent variables or a subset of higher-risk preterm infants to inform a safe and practical in-hospital preterm vaccination and monitoring protocol. Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted on 260 eligible, in-patient, preterm infants receiving the 6-week vaccination as per the South African Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) schedule from 01 March 2016 -31 March 2018 at a busy secondarylevel maternity referral hospital, Mowbray Maternity Hospital (MMH). Results: Two hundred and sixty (260) participants were included in the study, the median gestational age (GA) was 29 weeks, median birth weight 1 078 g and the median age at immunisation 44 days. Thirty-eight (38) out of the 260 participants (14.6%) experienced an AEFI with a median birth GA 28 weeks and median birth weight 988 g. Twenty-nine (29) out of 38 were deemed immunisation-related, since no other cause could be identified, with a prevalence of 11.15%. Majority (89.4%) of AEFI occurred within 24 hours. GA was inversely proportional to the risk of an AEFI. Respiratory support was needed by 73.7% and 97% were screened and treated for sepsis. Conclusion: Established benefit exists in vaccinating preterm infants according to chronological age. However, due cognisance should be paid to the early preterm infant's higher risk of AEFI, 11.15% in our study. Our study supports a clear unit-individualised preterm immunisation protocol with a minimum 24 hours of cardio-respiratory monitoring post vaccination, especially in the very preterm infants <32 weeks GA.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:41:53.812Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2024
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39830 A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018 Petersen, Mishkah Van Niekerk, Anika Paediatrics Background: Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs) are a leading cause of the high Underfive Mortality Rate (U5MR). Preterm infants are inherently at higher risk of mortality from VPDs. Studies irrefutably show the benefit of vaccinating preterm infants according to their chronological age with the benefit of timely vaccination outweighing unjustified delays. However, later studies have shown an increased risk of adverse events (AEs) following immunisation (AEFI) in preterm infants. This risk has not been uniformly accepted as statistically significant, but the multiple reports have led to subsequent proposed 48–72-hour cardio-respiratory monitoring recommendations which have not been uniformly adopted and may not be feasible in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Objectives: The main objective of this study is to identify the prevalence of major AEs following 6-week immunisation of preterm infants admitted to a busy neonatal unit in Cape Town over a two-year period. AEFI will be scrutinized to ascertain the timing, clinical severity and possible contributing factors. This study aims to identify any consistent variables or a subset of higher-risk preterm infants to inform a safe and practical in-hospital preterm vaccination and monitoring protocol. Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted on 260 eligible, in-patient, preterm infants receiving the 6-week vaccination as per the South African Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) schedule from 01 March 2016 -31 March 2018 at a busy secondarylevel maternity referral hospital, Mowbray Maternity Hospital (MMH). Results: Two hundred and sixty (260) participants were included in the study, the median gestational age (GA) was 29 weeks, median birth weight 1 078 g and the median age at immunisation 44 days. Thirty-eight (38) out of the 260 participants (14.6%) experienced an AEFI with a median birth GA 28 weeks and median birth weight 988 g. Twenty-nine (29) out of 38 were deemed immunisation-related, since no other cause could be identified, with a prevalence of 11.15%. Majority (89.4%) of AEFI occurred within 24 hours. GA was inversely proportional to the risk of an AEFI. Respiratory support was needed by 73.7% and 97% were screened and treated for sepsis. Conclusion: Established benefit exists in vaccinating preterm infants according to chronological age. However, due cognisance should be paid to the early preterm infant's higher risk of AEFI, 11.15% in our study. Our study supports a clear unit-individualised preterm immunisation protocol with a minimum 24 hours of cardio-respiratory monitoring post vaccination, especially in the very preterm infants <32 weeks GA. 2024-06-03T07:45:39Z 2024-06-03T07:45:39Z 2023 2024-06-03T06:48:12Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39830 eng application/pdf Department of Paediatrics and Child Health Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Paediatrics
Petersen, Mishkah
A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
title_full A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
title_fullStr A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
title_full_unstemmed A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
title_short A single-centre Preterm infant Retrospective Analysis of post 6-week Immunisation SideEffects, ‘PRAISE' study, in a busy neonatal unit in the Western Cape, South Africa between 2016-2018
title_sort single centre preterm infant retrospective analysis of post 6 week immunisation sideeffects praise study in a busy neonatal unit in the western cape south africa between 2016 2018
topic Paediatrics
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39830
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