After having progressed significantly since the 1980s, childhood vaccination is showing signs of decline in several European countries since the Covid pandemic, at the risk of causing a resurgence of infectious diseases, according to a study published Thursday by the “Lancet”.
For this work, the levels of seven childhood vaccinations (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, hepatitis B, meningitis B, poliomyelitis, pneumococcus, measles, rubella) in the 27 EU countries are scrutinized over more than 40 years, between 1980 and 2024, using data from the WHO and Unicef.
What emerges is “a complex panorama”, judge the authors of this vast analysis, published in The Lancet Regional Health.
On the one hand, the EU has achieved “historically high” childhood vaccination rates against these pathologies, with a substantial increase over forty years but heterogeneous depending on the country. In 2024, Luxembourg and Portugal would thus reach at least 95% coverage for the seven vaccinations, where Romania was below 80%.
But “a recent, worrying and generalized deterioration” has emerged in recent years, since the turn of the Covid era, the study shows.
Sixteen EU countries have thus recorded a drop in vaccination rates for at least four vaccines. This is particularly the case in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, where the seven vaccinations studied have all declined in recent years.
Data from Germany and Spain also showed a decline for five of seven childhood vaccinations, while in France and Italy, vaccination coverage increased for four vaccines and decreased for three others.
The most marked recent declines were observed for childhood vaccinations against meningitis B and against poliomyelitis – down in 20 countries -, ahead of those against hepatitis B – down in 18 countries – and against diphtheria, tetanus, polio – down in 17 countries.
The trends appear relatively less unfavorable against measles and rubella.
Most of the decline in childhood vaccinations began between 2019 and 2022, coinciding with the Covid era.
If the researchers believe that the health crisis born from the pandemic may have played a role, they also specify that their study was not intended to elucidate the reasons for vaccine developments.
They especially emphasize the “urgency” of guaranteeing high and sustainable vaccination coverage, “in order to prevent the reappearance of infectious diseases”.
Over the past 50 years, vaccinations have reduced the burden of diseases such as tetanus, whooping cough, pneumonia, measles, influenza and diphtheria, preventing more than 154 million deaths worldwide, especially among children, the study said.
The crisis born from Covid has caused disruptions to the health system and fueled mistrust and misinformation.
