Children with otitis attending emergency primary health care units following introduction of pneumococcal vaccine. / Barn på legevakt med ørebetennelse etter innføring av pneumokokkvaksinen.

BACKGROUND: Otitis is a frequently occurring condition in young children and involves considerable use of antibiotics. The most common bacterial cause is pneumococci. The pneumococcal vaccine was introduced as part of the Childhood Immunisation Programme in Norway in 2006. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether this vaccination may have reduced the number of otitis cases presenting at emergency primary health care units. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The material consists of data from all electronic reimbursement claims from emergency primary health care doctors in the period 2006-18. Annual consultation rates were calculated for children aged 0-5 years attending an emergency primary health care unit, both in total and due to otitis. Registration of vaccination coverage in this age group began in 2006. RESULTS: The total consultation rate fell from 674 per 1000 inhabitants in 2006 to 502 in 2018 (a relative reduction of 26 %). The consultation rate for otitis fell from 44 per 1000 inhabitants to 21 (a relative reduction of 52 %). While the total rate fell steadily throughout the period, the reduction in consultation rates for otitis began to fall in 2011, when vaccination coverage in this group was over 90 %. INTERPRETATION: The pneumococcal vaccine may have reduced the number of children presenting with otitis at an emergency primary health care unit.