Title:Pneumococcal Vaccine Uptake Among Australian Hajj Pilgrims in 2011-13
VOLUME: 14 ISSUE: 2
Author(s):Mohamed Tashani, Osamah Barasheed, Mohammad Azeem, Mohammad Alfelali, Al-Mamoon Badahdah, Hamid Bokhary, Nedal Almasri, Jassir Alshehri, Ghassan Matbouly, Nadeen Kalantan, Leon Heron, Iman Ridda, Elizabeth Haworth, Atif Asghar, Harunor Rashid and Robert Booy on behalf of the Hajj Research Team
Affiliation:National Centre for Immunisation, Research and Surveillance, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
Keywords:Hajj, Mecca, Pneumococcal vaccine, vaccination coverage.
Abstract:The uptake of the pneumococcal vaccine is suboptimal in Australia and remains unknown among Australian
Hajj pilgrims, many of whom are eligible because of age or underlying disease and at particular risk because of travel and
activities at Hajj. Pneumococcal vaccination uptake was examined over three consecutive years (2011 to 2013) through
anonymous self-administered cross sectional surveys among Australian pilgrims who assembled in Mina valley, Mecca,
Saudi Arabia. Respectively, 158, 513 and 219 pilgrims were recruited in 2011, 2012 and 2013; their mean ages were 43.8
(SD±13), 43 (SD±13.5) and 42.6 (SD±12.3) years; males accounted for 67 (42.4%), 325 (63.4%) and 172 (78.5%). Pneumococcal
vaccine uptake rates were 28.5% (45/158), 28.7% (147/513) and 14.2% (31/219); among the pilgrims with ‘at
risk’ conditions the pneumococcal vaccine uptake rates were 15 (30.6%), 43 (45.3%) and 9 (29%) respectively. According
to our surveys, the pneumococcal vaccine uptake among Australian pilgrims is low. Further research is needed to explore
the reasons through a validated study.
