Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Refugee Children, Germany

Abstract

Refugee children in Germany are not routinely given a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in 21 refugee children were compared with those in 405 Germany-born children for 3 pneumococcal seasons. Refugee children had significantly higher odds of vaccine-type IPD and multidrug-resistant IPD than did Germany-born children.

Keywords

• invasive pneumococcal disease
• refugees
• asylum seekers
• pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
• refugee health
• vaccines