Growing Up in New Zealand - Health Outcomes of Vaccinated vs Never Vaccinated
James Honeyfield made this Official Information request to University of Auckland
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From: James Honeyfield
Dear University of Auckland,
Specifically with regard to the 'Growing up in New Zealand' study.
Please could you provide any details or copies of analyses of the health outcomes (e.g. different rates of illness, medical conditions etc) of the children from within the study based on their vaccination status, that is: fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated and never vaccinated groups as per the NZ childhood vaccination schedule.
Yours faithfully,
James Honeyfield
From: Rebecca Ewert
University of Auckland
Dear James,
I refer to your request of 10 January 2020. The following articles, based
on data collected by Growing Up in New Zealand and published in peer
reviewed scientific journals, are relevant to your request:
* Grant, C. C., Chen, M. H., Bandara, D. K., Marks, E. J., Gilchrist, C.
A., Lewycka, S., ... & Morton, S. M. (2016). Antenatal immunisation
intentions of expectant parents: Relationship to immunisation
timeliness during infancy. Vaccine, 34(11), 1379-1388.
[1]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar...
* Veerasingam, P., Grant, C. C., Chelimo, C., Philipson, K., Gilchrist,
C. A., Berry, S., ... & Morton, S. (2017). Vaccine education during
pregnancy and timeliness of infant immunization. Pediatrics, 140(3),
e20163727.
[2]https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c...
* Pryor, J., Morton, S., Bandara, D., Robinson, E., & Grant, C. (2014).
Pregnant partners: Fathers of the growing up in New Zealand children.
Journal of Family Studies, 20(1), 5-18.
[3]https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.5...
* Hobbs, M. R., Morton, S. M., Atatoa-Carr, P., Ritchie, S. R., Thomas,
M. G., Saraf, R., ... & Grant, C. C. (2017). Ethnic disparities in
infectious disease hospitalisations in the first year of life in New
Zealand. Journal of paediatrics and child health, 53(3), 223-231.
[4]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/...
* Tin, S. T., Woodward, A., Saraf, R., Berry, S., Carr, P. A., Morton,
S. M., & Grant, C. C. (2016). Internal living environment and
respiratory disease in children: findings from the Growing Up in New
Zealand longitudinal child cohort study. Environmental Health, 15(1),
120.
[5]https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/trac...
Further, the following analyses published in Reports prepared by Growing
Up in New Zealand are relevant to your request:
* Morton, S.M.B., Atatoa Carr, P.E., Bandara, D.K., Grant, C.C., Ivory,
V.C., Kingi, T.R., Liang, R., Perese, L.M., Peterson, E., Pryor, J.E.,
Reese, E., Robinson, E.M., Schmidt, J.M., and Waldie, K.E. 2010. (pp.
ix, 74-77). Growing Up in New Zealand: A longitudinal study of New
Zealand children and their families. Report 1: Before we are born.
Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand.
[6]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
* Morton, S.M.B., Atatoa Carr, P.E., Grant, C.C., Lee, A.C., Bandara,
D.K., Mohal, J., Kinloch, J.M., Schmidt, J.M., Hedges, M.R., Ivory,
V.C., Kingi, T.R., Liang, R., Perese, L.M., Peterson, E., Pryor, J.E.,
Reese, E., Robinson, E.M., Waldie, K.E., and Wall, C.R. 2012. (pp.
13-14, 46-52, 106, 124). Growing Up in New Zealand: A longitudinal
study of New Zealand children and their families. Report 2: Now we are
born. Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand.
[7]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
* Morton, S.M.B., Atatoa Carr, P.E., Grant, C.C., Berry, S.D., Bandara,
D.K., Mohal, J., Tricker, P. J., Ivory, V.C., Kingi, T.R., Liang, R.,
Perese, L.M., Peterson, E., Pryor, J.E., Reese, E., Waldie, K.E., and
Wall, C.R. 2014. (pp. 7, 14-15, 51). Growing Up in New Zealand: A
longitudinal study of New Zealand children and their families. Now we
are Two: Describing our first 1000 days. Auckland: Growing Up in New
Zealand.
[8]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
* Morton, S. M. B., Atatoa Carr, P. E., Grant, C. C., Berry, S. D.,
Marks, E. J., Chen, X. M-H., Lee, A. C. 2014. (pp. 15, 28, 43-45, 62).
Growing Up in New Zealand: A longitudinal study of New Zealand
children and their families. Vulnerability Report 1: Exploring the
Definition of Vulnerability for Children in their First 1000 Days.
Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand.
[9]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
* Morton, S. M. B., Atatoa Carr, P. E., Grant, C. C., Berry, S. D.,
Mohal, J., Pillai, A. 2015. (pp. 5, 9, 14, 47, 50-51). Growing Up in
New Zealand: A longitudinal study of New Zealand children and their
families. Vulnerability Report 2: Transitions in exposure to
vulnerability in the first 1000 days of life. Auckland: Growing Up in
New Zealand.
[10]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
* Morton, S.M.B, Grant, C.C., Berry, S.D., Walker, C.G., Corkin, M., Ly,
K., de Castro, T.G., Atatoa Carr, P.E., Bandara, D.K., Mohal, J.,
Bird, A., Underwood, L., Fa’alili-Fidow, J., 2017. (pp. 22-23).
Growing Up in New Zealand: A longitudinal study of New Zealand
children and their families. Now We Are Four: Describing the preschool
years. Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand.
[11]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/growin...
This response constitutes a partial refusal of your request, on the ground
that material requested is publicly available (section 18(d) of the
Official Information Act). You have the right to make a complaint about
this response to an Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Ewert
General Counsel
University of Auckland
show quoted sections
From: James Honeyfield
Dear Rebecca Ewert,
Thank you for your response to the OIA.
Unfortunately, it seems that this response has avoided answering the specific question in the OIA request, that is details of any studies/analyses of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children.
Instead, the response has included 11 links (5 published externally and 6 by the GUINZ study itself) that broadly mention or pertain to vaccination/immunisation. Having now read all the links it looks like the OIA response has done little more than provide the results of a ‘key word search’ on vaccination/immunisation’ in the expectation that it might answer the OIA question.
Quite simply It does not.
In more detail I will provide a summation of each of those links as to whether it helps answer the OIA request as I have read all the noted parts of the linked studies now:
Link 1: An interesting study summarising parents intention to vaccinate or not and whether they did or didn’t. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link 2: A similar paper to the above which focuses on the information on vaccination received in pregnancy and then timeliness of vaccination. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link 3: The abstract to this study doesn’t mention vaccination/immunisation at all and the study lies behind a paywall where prices range from US$44 to $US604. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? Based on the abstract alone it’s highly unlikely.
Link 4: Is an interesting study that looks at infectious disease hospitalisations between different ethnicities in NZ. There is mention of delayed vaccination for Pacific Island children and hospitalisation rates. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No, not directly but it does demonstrate that a study could be done as the ‘data inputs and targets’ of vaccination status & health outcomes (hospitalisation IDS being part of that) are obviously available to the study.
Link 5: Is a study on Internal living environment and respiratory disease in children. It mentions the NIR data (vaccination status) was linked to the study group but there is no mention thereafter of any substance relating to vaccination and respiratory disease. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
And from the Six GUINZ links
Link1: The report ‘Before we were born’ has a section on parents’ ‘intention to vaccinate’. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link2: The report ‘Now we are born’ has a section on actual vaccination rates up to 2 years (90-96% at various ages), intentions vs actual, rates amongst birth order etc. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link3: The report ‘Now we are Two: Describing our first 1000 days’ briefly covers vaccination rates and next steps to identify access gaps. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link4: The report ‘Vulnerability Report 1’ lists incomplete immunisation as a vulnerability measure. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link5: The ‘Vulnerability Report 2’ links higher vulnerability risk groups with incomplete vaccinations. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Link6: The ‘Now We Are Four’ mentions vaccination rates again up to and at 4 years of age. Does this compare the health outcomes of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated children? No.
Based on the links provided I suggest it would have been beneficial to state in the response something along the lines of this that ‘The GUINZ study has not carried out a vaccinated vs unvaccinated vs partially vaccinated study, however these links may provide some further reading on areas pertaining to vaccination touched on by the study’.
At least then we would be clear of the answer. I invite you to revisit this and provide a more direct answer to the question.
Yours sincerely,
James Honeyfield
From: Rebecca Ewert
University of Auckland
Dear Mr Honeyfield
Our initial response provided you with information relevant to your
request. Additionally, analyses related to the projects below are ongoing
but outputs are not yet available:
Table 1. Current ongoing projects investigating Immunisation
Year Title
2015 What is different about the pregnant women who do versus do not
receive information antenatally about immunisation?
2015 Why does the decline in immunisation coverage and timeliness with
increasing age vary by ethnicity and household deprivation?
2016 Effect of BCG vaccination on respiratory illness in New Zealand
children
2016 Relationship between partner sources of infant immunization
information during pregnancy and infant immunization timelines
2017 Vaccine Preventable Respiratory Disease in New Zealand
2018 Vaccine information received by partners and timeliness of infant
immunisation
2018 Migration and Child Immunisation Status in New Zealand: Individual
and Contextual Factors Associated with Immunisation Timeliness in
immigrant children in New Zealand, A Multilevel Analysis
2019 MMR Immunisation and Barriers in the Growing Up in New Zealand Cohort
Otherwise the University has not to date carried out a specific vaccinated
vs unvaccinated vs partially vaccinated comparative analysis to address
your specific question. This may constitute a refusal of your request
under s 18(g) of the Official Information Act, that we do not hold the
information requested. You have the right to make a complaint about this
response to an Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Ewert
General Counsel
University of Auckland
show quoted sections
From: Rebecca Ewert
University of Auckland
Dear Mr Honeyfield
Our initial response provided you with information relevant to your
request. Additionally, analyses related to the projects below are ongoing
but outputs are not yet available:
Table 1. Current ongoing projects investigating Immunisation
Year Title
2015 What is different about the pregnant women who do versus do not
receive information antenatally about immunisation?
2015 Why does the decline in immunisation coverage and timeliness with
increasing age vary by ethnicity and household deprivation?
2016 Effect of BCG vaccination on respiratory illness in New Zealand
children
2016 Relationship between partner sources of infant immunization
information during pregnancy and infant immunization timelines
2017 Vaccine Preventable Respiratory Disease in New Zealand
2018 Vaccine information received by partners and timeliness of infant
immunisation
2018 Migration and Child Immunisation Status in New Zealand: Individual
and Contextual Factors Associated with Immunisation Timeliness in
immigrant children in New Zealand, A Multilevel Analysis
2019 MMR Immunisation and Barriers in the Growing Up in New Zealand Cohort
Otherwise the University has not to date carried out a specific vaccinated
vs unvaccinated vs partially vaccinated comparative analysis to address
your specific question. This may constitute a refusal of your request
under s 18(g) of the Official Information Act, that we do not hold the
information requested. You have the right to make a complaint about this
response to an Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Ewert
General Counsel
University of Auckland
show quoted sections
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This response includes a large number of online reference points but the University also advise that it constitutes a partial refusal of the request, on the ground that material requested is publicly available (section 18(d) of the Official Information Act).
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