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A new data base allows analyzing patient specific vaccinations: The Vaccine Analyzer
Der Vaccine Analyzer erlaubt patientenspezifische Analysen zu Impfungen in niedergelassenen Praxen
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Veröffentlicht: | 14. November 2012 |
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Background: In Germany no vaccine register is available. Information about vaccinations normally is based on surveys; the RKI has no access to a data base with regularly updates.
Vaccines are usually not prescribed. Doctors are keeping vaccines on a practice stock and administer the vaccination during the patient’s consultation. Office-based physicians buy vaccines directly from wholesalers or pharmacies to stock a consultation overhead. Physicians prescribe this consultation overhead for “dummy patients” and not for real patients. If the physician does not have a vaccine on stock, a prescription is issued for travel purpose on a private prescription.
Materials and Methods: More and more physicians are managing and documenting their patient specific vaccinations via a “vaccine assistant”. Since 2010 IMS has access to anonymized patients based on physicians using this vaccine assistant.
Beside the vaccination itself the full patient history is available, i.e. information regarding the prescriber, patient, diagnosis, concomitant diagnosis or concomitant therapy. All information is generated on a monthly update via a interface.
Currently IMS has access to around 250 different physicians with more than 100,000 patients with at least one vaccination within the last 18 months. Information can be stratified by:
- Doctor specialty: GPs, pediatrician, gynecologist
- Region: western states of Germany, eastern states of Germany
- Patient age and gender
The Vaccine Analyzer will be extended in the next two years.
Results: The Vaccine Analyzer will answer the followings questions:
- Vaccination coverage rate: Patients with 1, 2 and 3 vaccinations
- Typical age (in months) for specific vaccinations
- Duration between the first and the following vaccinations
- Booster for adults
- Patient specific parameters for vaccinations and non-vaccinations
- Flu vaccinations for children and adults: Triggers for flu vaccination?
- Vaccination reaction
As expected, most vaccinations are seen at children between one and two years. Durations between the first and follwing vaccinations very often not in line with the guiedelines.
More and more children are receiving flu vaccinations. Detailed analyses are showing, which risk factor have an impact on flu vaccinations for children.
Conclusion: The Vaccine Analyzer is the first valide data base in Germany which captures sytematically anonym patient individually vaccines and vaccine reactions or signals. In combination with patient histories a lot of pharmacoepidemilogical information is available.