Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 East Main Street, Durham, NC, USA.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Dec;11(6):3768-3772. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01827-8. Epub 2023 Oct 13.
Disparities in vaccine coverage among groups in the USA is common, possibly due to higher vaccine hesitancy in certain populations, difficulty accessing vaccines, and underlying social vulnerability.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between mpox vaccine administration, social determinants of health, and social vulnerability index (SVI) in Durham County, North Carolina, USA. Random forest regression (RFE) and min-max scaling preprocessing were used to predict mpox vaccinations in Durham County at the census tract level. The top eleven most influential features and their correlations with mpox vaccination were calculated.
Non-Hispanic white individuals, males, and those between the ages of 20 and 40 years were overrepresented in mpox vaccine reception in Durham County. Surprisingly, lacking a high school diploma, lacking health insurance, lacking a household vehicle, and living below the poverty line were all positively associated with receiving the mpox vaccine. Being a Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino individual was also positively associated with receiving the mpox vaccine.
Vaccine outreach efforts in Durham County, North Carolina, had success in reaching at-risk individuals, including socially vulnerable individuals. Future research should focus more specifically on how social vulnerability relates to vaccine reception for vaccine-preventable diseases.
在美国，不同群体之间的疫苗接种率存在差异是很常见的，这可能是由于某些人群对疫苗的犹豫程度更高、接种疫苗的难度更大，以及潜在的社会脆弱性。
本研究旨在调查美国北卡罗来纳州达勒姆县的 mpox 疫苗接种、健康的社会决定因素和社会脆弱性指数（SVI）之间的关联。随机森林回归（RFE）和 min-max 缩放预处理用于预测达勒姆县的 mpox 疫苗接种情况，按普查地段进行。计算了前 11 个最具影响力的特征及其与 mpox 疫苗接种的相关性。
在达勒姆县，非西班牙裔白人、男性和 20 至 40 岁的人群在 mpox 疫苗接种中占比过高。令人惊讶的是，缺乏高中学历、没有医疗保险、没有家庭用车和生活在贫困线以下都与接种 mpox 疫苗呈正相关。黑人和非洲裔美国人以及西班牙裔或拉丁裔个人也与接种 mpox 疫苗呈正相关。
北卡罗来纳州达勒姆县的疫苗推广工作在接触高危人群方面取得了成功，包括社会弱势群体。未来的研究应更具体地关注社会脆弱性与可预防疾病疫苗接种之间的关系。
