ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The local health authority (Gesundheitsamt) in Düsseldorf, Germany aimed to investigate the current immunization status of nursery school children and pedagogues in Düsseldorf, Germany. Furthermore, analysing the association between Düsseldorf's 5 social environment clusters and immunization status was of interest. Especially due to recent changes in the German Infection Protection Act closely monitoring adverse immunization trends becomes increasingly important. METHODS: Weighted cluster random sampling was used in order to draw a sample of 50 nursery schools from the 5 social environment clusters. Questionnaires were sent to the nursery schools and data were subsequently analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The results indicate that 76.0% of the children were immunized in time against MMR, 68.2% against varicella and 75.4% against meningococcal serogroup C. Data indicated a higher number of immunized children among older age groups. 96.4% of staff members born after 1970 were not vaccinated against varicella, 17.9% were not immunized against MMR and 82.1% were not vaccinated against meningococcal serogroup C. CONCLUSION: Immunization rates of children in nursery schools in Düsseldorf are far lower compared to local, federal and nationwide data of children's school entrance health examination. Especially in nursery schools that care for children younger than 12 months, herd immunity is crucial. Therefore, administering vaccines with a delay is considered to be precarious. Due to low response rates, inferential statistics could not be used and conclusions about the staff members' data are limited.
