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Volume 5, Issue 7 (Suppl) J Infect Dis Ther, an open access journal
ISSN: 2332-0877 Infection Prevention 2017
December 14-15, 2017
December 14-15, 2017 | Rome, Italy
13th World Congress on
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Successful vaccination intervention against influenza among asylum seekers in a northern region in
Sweden
Staffan P E Sylvan1, Ingrid Svensson2 and Marit Wiklund3
1Uppsala University, Sweden
2Region Jamtland/Harjedalen, Sweden
Background: During the autumn 2015 the number of people seeking asylum in Sweden increased dramatically and region
Jamtland/Harjedalen received over 3600 individuals. To give all these people a roof over their head it was necessary to increase
the number of people living in each room, resulting in an overcrowded resident situation in some shelters comprising 1182
individuals. There is an increased risk for rapid spread of novel strains of influenza A in confined environment, such as refugee
shelters. Universal influenza vaccination is a strategy to improve prevention by increasing vaccination coverage (VC) and
providing indirect protection of adults by decreasing infection and transmission among children.
Materials & Methods: 5 refugee shelters were considered overcrowded, housing between 87 to 638 individuals each. Specially
trained vaccination teams visited each shelter after written information in English, Dari, Pashto, Amarinjo and Arabic about
influenza infection and influenza vaccination had been distributed among all asylum seekers. The vaccination was free of
charge.
Results: VC among all refugees in age groups 0-65 years was 68%. In comparison, the VC among the older general population
(65 years or older) in our region (county 2) was 33%, which was the 2nd lowest VC among 11 reporting counties in Sweden.
During the influenza season 2015/2016, 88 cases of influenza A and 29 cases of influenza B were reported in our region
(population 127 169). Among these, three individuals with influenza A and 2 with influenza B were reported that belonged to
the refugee cohort. These cases were reported before the implementation of the vaccination campaign among the overcrowded
asylum seekers. After the introduction of the influenza vaccination campaign no case of influenza A and B or outbreaks of
influenza was reported from the vaccinated shelters.
Conclusions: The high VC has probably had some impact on the spread of influenza and the burden of infection in the
shelters. It is also possible that the high VC resulted in a protective effect for the unvaccinated individuals living in the shelters,
as no case of influenza was reported from the shelters after the implementation of the vaccination campaign. This limited study
also suggests that influenza vaccination free of charge, with easy access and preceded by direct adequate information regarding
influenza and vaccination can result in an enhanced VC.
Biography
Staffan P E Sylvan is a senior expert in infectious diseases and communicable disease control and prevention. He has been the county Medical Officer for
Uppsala County, Sweden. As such he was the Director of the local department of communicable disease control and prevention and was very active in undertaking
campaigns concerning the containment of the spread of communicable diseases such as pandemic influenza, Chlamydia, HIV and hepatitis A, B and C. He has a
long standing research career particularly in the area of Hepatitis Immunology. He has published more than 65 papers in reputed journals.
Staffan P E Sylvan et al., J Infect Dis Ther 2017, 5:7(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2332-0877-C1-036