Historical trends in mortality from older vaccine-preventable diseases, Colombia: implications for elimination and control

Objective: This study aimed to describe the trends in mortality from eight vaccine-preventable diseases in Colombia in the last 40 years and their relationship with vaccination coverage. Study design: It is a population-based descriptive study. Methods: The frequencies of deaths by decade, disease, sex, and the specific mortality rates by age group were calculated. Using a negative binomial regression model, the 10-year changes in mortality and their relationship with vaccination coverage were determined. Results: The number of deaths and the adjusted rates decreased since 1989 in all diseases (incidence rate ratio <1 when compared with the 1979e1988 decade). Vaccination coverage below 90% is associated with an increase in mortality from diphtheria, measles, mumps, neonatal tetanus, and pertussis. Conclusion: Historical changes in mortality support the benefits of vaccination, but new efforts are required to sustain the elimination of diseases. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study describes the trends in mortality from eight vaccine-preventable diseases in Colombia over the past 40 years and examines their relationship with vaccination coverage. The results show that the number of deaths and adjusted rates have decreased since 1989 in all diseases. Vaccination coverage below 90% is associated with an increase in mortality from certain diseases.