Cross sectional survey of meningococcal C immunization in children looked after by local authorities and those living at home

Hill, Catherine M., Mather, Mary and Goddard, Jonathan (2003) Cross sectional survey of meningococcal C immunization in children looked after by local authorities and those living at home. BMJ, 326 (7385), 364-365. (doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7385.364).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Children under the care of a local authority by voluntary agreement or by order of a court often have poor physical and mental health. On 31 March 2001, 75 601 children in England, Scotland, and Wales were looked after by local authorities. In 1998, the government invested £885m in social services through the Quality Protects programme (Children First in Wales) to improve public care. Compliance with immunisation schedules is an important health performance indicator of these programmes, although lack of immunisation may reflect neglect before, rather than after, a child enters public care. The national meningococcal C vaccine campaign in 1999 provided a unique opportunity to measure immunisation uptake in public care, unbiased by historical health neglect. We compared immunisation rates in children looked after by local authorities with that in children at home.

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