Vaccine uptake in the Irish Travelling community: an audit of general practice records.

Background: Compared to the general population, the Traveller community has substantial health inequalities. Vaccination coverage in Traveller children is estimated to be low and Travellers are at higher risk of vaccine-preventable diseases due to their social circumstances.

Methods: Audit of vaccination history of Traveller (n = 214) and non-Traveller (n = 776) children registered at a general practice in England. The Green Book childhood immunization schedule was used as a reference standard.

Results: There was significantly lower coverage for Traveller children compared to non-Traveller children for all vaccinations in the routine childhood immunization schedule. The percentage of children completing the schedule at all time points was significantly lower in the Traveller community.

Conclusions: Traveller communities have significantly lower uptake of vaccinations, and therefore Travellers' children should be targeted by general practitioners for catch-up vaccination to improve outcomes for individuals and local herd immunity.