Frequency and Factors of Low Vaccination Coverage in Children Visiting a Tertiary Care Facility
Abstract
Objective: To determine the frequency of vaccination coverage and factors leading to low vaccination coverage in children visiting a tertiary care hospital
Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at out -patient department of National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi over a period of six months. Children of age from 2 months to 5 years of either gender attending OPD irrespective of their attending complaint were included. Partial to unvaccinated child as per EPI schedule was labeled as low vaccination coverage confirmed by Vaccination Card.
Results: Total 136 children were enrolled with mean age of 2.83 ± 1.08 years out of which 52% were male. 34.60% patients were fully vaccinated while 60.30% patients were partially vaccinated and 5.10% patients were unvaccinated. There were 65.4% patients with low vaccination status. Factors leading to low vaccination showed that the perception of no benefit from vaccination was responsible for 39%, distant vaccination centers were found in 36%, absence of mobile teams in 8.8%, improper knowledge of EPI schedule in 18.4%, non-availability of vaccine in 8.1%, pain due to vaccine in 3.7% and maternal illiteracy was found in 41.9%.
Conclusion: We found 65.4% patients with low immunization status with leading risk factor of poor maternal education in 41.9%.
References
Naeem M, Riaz T, Anwar S, Rubab S, Saba T. Vaccination status of children according to age and gender visiting EPI center of ‘Nawaz Sharif Social Security Hospital, Lahore. Pak J Med Health Sci. 2017;11(2):610-5
World Health Organization: Immunization. http://www.who.int/topics/immunization/en/pak.html
National Institutes of Health. Understanding vaccines, what they are, how they work. 2008;26:2011
Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan. Pakistan Millennium Development Goal Report, 2010, Government of Pakistan. Draft National Health Policy, 2010, Islamabad
Vaccination and immunization-basic and common questions- what would happen if stopped vaccination? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July, 2014 from www.cdc.gov.
Andre FE, Booy R, Bock HL, Clemens J, Datta SK, John TJ.et.al. Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity worldwide. Bull World Health Organ.2008;86(2):140-46
World Health Organization. Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. Available from: http://www.who.int/ vaccines&diseases/history.shtml
Bugvi AS, Rahat R, Zakar R, Zakar MZ, Fischer F, Nasrullah M, et.al. Factors associated with non-utilization of child immunization in Pakistan: evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:232
Etana B, Deressa W. Factors associated with complete immunization coverage in children aged 12–23 months in Ambo Woreda, Central Ethiopia. BMC public health. 2012;12(1):566
U.S.Food and Drug Administration. Complete list of vaccines licensed for immunization and distribution in the U.S. http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/ Vaccines/Approved Products/UCM093833. 2011
Niazi AK, Sadaf R. Editorial; Measles Epidemic in Pakistan: In Search of Solutions. Ann Med Health Sci Res.2014;4(1):1-2
Rizvi FH, Haider K, Ullah S, Rizvi AH, Zia MS, Ashfaq A. Exploring the status and determinants of routine immunization among children in southern district of Punjab.Pak Arm Forces Med J.2018;68(1):165-70
Khalil AT, Ali M, Tanveer F, Ovais M, Idrees M, Shinwari ZK,et.al. Emerging viral infections in Pakistan: issues, concerns, and future prospects. Health security. 2017;15(3):268-81
UNICEF. Demographic and Health Surveys. ICF International. Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (Datasets) 2015.
Antai D. Faith and child survival: the role of religion in childhood immunization in Nigeria. J Biosoc Sci. 2009;41(1):57-76
Francis MR, Nohynek H, Larson H, Balraj V, Mohan VR, Kang G, et.al. Factors associated with routine childhood vaccine uptake and reasons for non- vaccination in India: 1998–2008. Vaccine. 2018; 36(44): 6559-66
Imtiaz A, Farooq G, Haq ZU, Ahmed A, Anwar S. Public Private Partnership And Utilization Of Maternal And Child Health Services In District Abbottabad, Pakistan. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad.2017; 29(2): 275–9.
Cochi SL, Freeman A, Guirguis S, Jafari H, Aylward B. Global polio eradication initiative: lessons learned and legacy. J Infect Dis. 2014;210(suppl_1):S540-6
Uddin MJ, Shamsuzzaman M, Horng L, Labrique A, Vasudevan L, Zeller K, et al. Use of mobile phones for improving vaccination coverage among children living in rural hard to reach areas and urban streets of Bangladesh. Vaccine 2016; 34(2): 276-83
