MEDICAL CONDITION AND IMMUNISATION STATUS OF CHINESE ADOPTEES COMPARED TO CHILDREN ADOPTED FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

Schulpen TWJ

University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands

 

International adoption of children has become common practice all over the world in the last three decades. About 20,000 children enter Western Europe and North America each year. In the Netherlands about 900 children are adopted from abroad each year. Around 60 % of the adoptees have one or more medical problems, like intestinal infections and  parasites, anemia, hepatitis B, lues and tuberculosis. The last ten years the health condition of internationally adopted children has much improved. In 1990 adoption of children from the People¡¯s Republic of China became possible and at present nearly one third of all newly adopted children in the Netherlands are from China. The health condition of these children is much better compared to children from other countries. Data comparing the different continents will be shown.

The immunisation status was investigated by measuring antibody titres to diphtheria, tetanus and poliovirus 1, 2 and 3 of 98 Chinese children and 35 children from other countries who were medically screened at the adoption clinic of the Centre for Migration and Child Health in Utrecht and who carried a vaccination document with three or more vaccination data for diphtheria, tetanus and oral polio vaccine.

Approximately 60% of the Chinese children ( 71 % of the other adoptees) were fully protected against tetanus and diphteria, 25% ( 26 %) were marginally protected while around 15% ( 3 % ) were not protected at all.  For OPV between 25 and 30% of the Chinese children

( 6 and 8 % for adoptees from other countries ) lack protective antibody titres against polio virus type 1 and 3.

The reasons for the discrepancy between vaccination documents and the actual serological status are not clear and further research is needed.

 

 
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