Further improving MMR immunisation uptake

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

Further improving MMR immunisation uptake

Jemma L. Buck, Medical Student, King's College London
Other Contributors:
- Alex SJ Hong, Medical student, King’s College London, King’s College London
- Jonathan Nixon, Medical student, King’s College London, King’s College London
- Lily L. Walter, Medical student, King’s College London, King’s College London
- Vijay Kudari, Supervisor, King’s College London, King’s College London

8 May 2020

Venkatesh et al. considered a text-messaging intervention to improve MMR immunisation. We would like to make suggestions on how MMR uptake could be further improved. London has lower vaccination levels than other parts of England,¹ which increases the risk of a measles epidemic starting there. Measles, mumps and rubella are easily preventable diseases and the positive impact of effective MMR vaccination on healthcare systems has been shown to be immense.²

A group of King’s College London medical students looked to increase the uptake of the MMR vaccine at a GP surgery in Greenwich, London. The first intervention aimed to raise the profile to providers, showing clinicians a video presentation discussing epidemiology, current barriers to accessing care and suggestions on how to integrate MMR discussions into consultations. The video was also emailed a week later to clinicians, acting as a reminder to raise awareness and reduce missed opportunities to discuss MMR immunisation.

The second intervention aimed to highlight the importance of MMR immunisation to parents. Posters were displayed in the waiting area of the GP surgery, which contained information about the potential complications of measles, mumps and rubella, the risk of of contracting one of these diseases and the immunisation schedule. By educating parents about MMR immunisation, hesitancy is reduced,³ parents are also empowered to make informed decisions for their children and reminded to enquire about MMR.⁴

Following both interventions in September 2019, MMR uptake increased by 18.75% in October, 16.67% in November and 12.50% in December compared to the month prior to the interventions. A decline in the increased uptake can be observed over time. Multiple factors may have influenced this such as competing priorities for parents leading up to Christmas, reduced GP surgery opening hours and lower appointment availability. For a sustained impact, the video presentation could be recirculated to clinicians and new posters uploaded to social media.

Due to the nature of the interventions, implementation required few resources and caused minimal disruption. We believe these interventions are sustainable and could be effectively applied to General Practice on a larger scale to improve MMR uptake throughout the UK.

References

1. Crocker-Buque T, Mounier-Jack S. Vaccination in England: a review of why business as usual is not enough to maintain coverage. BMC Public Health 2018;18(1):1351. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-6228-5.

2. Public Health England, 2019. UK measles and rubella elimination strategy 2019. London: PHE Publications, p.17. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/769970/UK_measles_and_rubella_elimination_strategy.pdf (accessed 8 May 2020)

3. Williams SE, Rothman RL, Offit PA, Schaffner W, Sullivan M, Edwards KM. A randomized trial to increase acceptance of childhood vaccines by vaccine-hesitant parents: a pilot study. Acad Pediatr 2013; 13(5):475‐480. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2013.03.011.

4. Frew PM, Lutz CS. Interventions to increase pediatric vaccine uptake: An overview of recent findings. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2017; 13(11):2503‐2511. doi:10.1080/21645515.2017.1367069.

Competing Interests: None declared.

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Further improving MMR immunisation uptake

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