Five Year Follow Up of Extremely Low Gestational Age Infants after Timely or Delayed Administration of Routine Vaccinations

oleh: Ingmar Fortmann, Marie-Theres Dammann, Alexander Humberg, Bastian Siller, Guido Stichtenoth, Geraldine Engels, Janina Marißen, Kirstin Faust, Kathrin Hanke, Sybelle Goedicke-Fritz, Christoph Derouet, Sascha Meyer, Regine Stutz, Elisabeth Kaiser, Egbert Herting, Wolfgang Göpel, Christoph Härtel, Michael Zemlin, on behalf of the German Neonatal Network (GNN) and the PRIMAL Consortium

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-05-01

Deskripsi

This study is aimed at detecting the rate of untimely immunization in a large cohort of extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) of the German Neonatal Network (GNN) and at addressing risk factors for delayed vaccination and associated long-term consequences. We performed an observational study of the GNN between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2019. The immunization status for the hexavalent and pneumococcal immunization was evaluated in <i>n</i> = 8401 preterm infants <29 weeks of gestation. Univariate analysis and logistic/linear regression models were used to identify risk factors for vaccination delay and outcomes at a 5-year follow-up. In our cohort <i>n</i> = 824 (9.8%) ELGANs did not receive a timely first immunization with the hexavalent and pneumococcal vaccine. Risk factors for delayed vaccination were SGA status (18.1% vs. 13.5%; OR 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1–1.7), impaired growth and surrogates for complicated clinical courses (i.e., need for inotropes, necrotizing enterocolitis). At 5 years of age, timely immunized children had a lower risk of bronchitis (episodes within last year: 27.3% vs. 37.7%; OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.42–0.86) but spirometry measures were unaffected. In conclusion, a significant proportion of ELGANs are untimely immunized, specifically those with increased vulnerability, even though they might particularly benefit from the immune-promoting effects of a timely vaccination.