A study published in the journal Nature Medicine, with the participation of Inserm, the IRD and the University of Bordeaux, tested a simple way of getting more children vaccinated in Yobe State, in northern Nigeria. The strategy consisted of distributing preventive nutritional supplements to children aged 6 to 23 months on the monthly routine vaccination days at health centres.
The trial, called NutriVax-Measles, involved 20 areas selected by public draw. Receiving the supplements did not depend on the child being vaccinated, and the researchers checked the vaccination cards of more than 3,000 children.
In the areas covered, coverage of the first dose of the measles vaccine practically doubled and the proportion of children who had never received any vaccine fell by half. Among unvaccinated children with severe acute malnutrition, the number was cut to a third.
Yobe State has already included this approach in its funding plan. A similar strategy will be tested with malaria vaccines in Cameroon, in a trial called NutriVax-Malaria.
