Surveillance and risk assessment of health screening for vaccine-preventable diseases among international students in Japan: A cross-sectional study in 2020.
Hum Vaccin Immunother
; 18(6): 2136914, 2022 Nov 30.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36399767
ABSTRACT
We conducted a cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire in three major Japanese cities from August 03 to 24, 2020 to clarify the current situation of health checkups, including vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), among international students at Japanese universities (JUs) and Japanese language schools (JLSs). The total response rate was 36% 69 JUs (31%) and 137 JLSs (39%). Over 90% of these institutions conducted chest X-ray screening for tuberculosis among their students, whereas only 24.6% of JUs and 15.3% of JLSs performed general blood tests for health screening. Only 14.5% and 2.2% of the JUs and JLSs, respectively, required the submission of vaccination or antibody certificates for admission. The difficulties in requesting vaccination certificates from international students are due to poor legal requirements and concerns about rising costs for schools. From 2017 to 2019, 183 international students, principally from East Asia and Southeast Asia, were infected with VPDs, particularly tuberculosis (99 cases) and varicella (71 cases). Whereas the majority of Japanese educational institutions screen international students for tuberculosis (TB) at admission, only a few institutions request proof of antibody testing relating to other VPDs or of vaccination. These findings will help formulate guidelines for checkups related to vaccination for international students required to protect the educational institutions in Japan from the spread of VPDs. In addition, providing multifaceted social support, including financial compensation for institutions and enhanced international students' health issues, would be helpful.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Rubella
/
Tuberculosis
/
Chickenpox
/
Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
/
Measles
/
Mumps
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Hum Vaccin Immunother
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan