Homsi Maysam R, Underwood Carol, Caniza Miguela A, Davey-Rothwell Melissa A
Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2025 Dec;21(1):2509472. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2025.2509472. Epub 2025 May 26.
Most cases of childhood cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries. In parallel, children with cancer are more vulnerable to infections, including vaccine-preventable infections. We distributed an electronic, self-administered survey to healthcare providers working in Latin America and the Caribbean region who deliver care to children with cancer to assess the factors that influence their decision and ability to vaccinate children with cancer. Our study found that approximately half of respondents consistently requested the patient's vaccination record before starting cancer treatment and that less than 20% estimated that ≥75% of their pediatric patients were up to date on their immunizations. Only a small fraction reported having related government policies and reporting requirements for immunizing/re-immunizing children with cancer. Respondents recognize the need to immunize children with cancer; however, national policies and monitoring tools for this population are lacking. There are global initiatives to address gaps in immunization coverage and to promote the development of policy and infrastructure to support the increasing number of children with cancer. Although they have clear and distinct goals, there are opportunities to combine efforts. Integrating immunizations into national childhood cancer treatment policies and enhancing current vaccination surveillance platforms can address gaps and support an overlooked population.
大多数儿童癌症病例发生在低收入和中等收入国家。与此同时,癌症患儿更容易受到感染,包括可通过疫苗预防的感染。我们向在拉丁美洲和加勒比地区为癌症患儿提供护理的医疗服务提供者发放了一份电子自填式调查问卷,以评估影响他们为癌症患儿接种疫苗的决策和能力的因素。我们的研究发现,约一半的受访者在开始癌症治疗前会一直索要患者的疫苗接种记录,且不到20%的受访者估计其儿科患者中≥75%的人疫苗接种是最新的。只有一小部分人报告有针对癌症患儿免疫接种/重新免疫接种的相关政府政策和报告要求。受访者认识到有必要为癌症患儿接种疫苗;然而,针对这一人群的国家政策和监测工具却很缺乏。有一些全球倡议旨在解决免疫接种覆盖率方面的差距,并促进政策和基础设施的发展,以支持越来越多的癌症患儿。尽管这些倡议有明确且不同的目标,但仍有机会联合各方力量。将免疫接种纳入国家儿童癌症治疗政策,并加强当前的疫苗接种监测平台,可以解决差距问题,并支持这一被忽视的人群。