Vaccine Uptake among Mayan Villagers in the Yucatan

Background:  Each year, nursing students from the University of Florida (UF) travel to the Mexican State of Yucatan as part of a collaborative relationship between UF and Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan (UADY) to examine the health care delivery system. The aim of this visit was to explore vaccine attitudes, beliefs, and uptake among adult Mayan villagers.  Those residing in the small villages outside of Tizimin are primarily Mayan.  They live in simple thatched huts with dirt floors and limited access to clean drinking water.  The nearest hospital is often many kilometers away and transportation is limited.  Preventative care is of paramount importance because an illness such as pneumonia can be catastrophic without access to modern medicine.  Methods: Through an interpreter, I spoke with nursing students, public health officials at the Mexican Social Security Institute, and Mayan villagers including the eldest woman who was 84.  Field notes were taken and transcribed.  Findings: Many villagers spoke of devastating disease outbreaks in past years when vaccines weren’t readily available.  Outbreaks were often managed only through quarantines whereby leaves were hung from the doorway, or by taking the individual to the hospital where waits were long and treatment was unpredictable. Women in the village were proponents of vaccines, but men were largely unvaccinated due to work schedules.  Despite the primitive nature of their living arrangements, most could readily produce immunization records.  Discussion:  Since Mayan men appear to be largely unvaccinated, research aimed at examining vaccine attitudes and beliefs in this population is recommended.