Morbidity of viral vaccine preventable diseases in the Mexican states bordering the U.S., 2014–2023

Abstract

Mexico and the United States share an international boundary with a considerable extension. The objective of this retrospective study is to assess the morbidity of viral vaccine preventable diseases in the six Mexican states bordering the U.S. from 2014 to 2023. Viral vaccine preventable diseases are a major health concern because they can cause serious illness and death. From the analysis of 9 nationally notifiable viral vaccine preventable diseases, only varicella and mumps had a significant higher incidence than the national average. A higher incidence of varicella was also observed in the U.S. border states for the years of the study. A deeper analysis revealed that varicella is seasonal in the Mexican border states and its incidence is steadily declining throughout the years of study. For mumps, the higher incidence in the border states can be attributed to outbreaks in the years 2018 and 2019. Of importance, we observed an increasing morbidity of the viral vaccine preventable diseases after the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020. These data indicate that the incidence of certain infectious diseases is historically higher in the border states than the national average, and that continuous surveillance is crucial, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.