A study of vaccination delay among under-five attendees at an immunisation clinic in a rural area of Goa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20181247Keywords:
Vaccination delay, Immunization, Under-five childrenAbstract
Background: Vaccination has effectively shown to reduce mortality and morbidity due to vaccine-preventable diseases. However, these diseases are still responsible for majority of childhood deaths worldwide especially in the developing countries. It should be realized that with hesitance or delaying vaccinations, the period that the child at risk increases. Hence, the following study was conducted.
Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 251 under-five immunization clinic attendees at an immunization clinic conducted at the Rural Health and Training Centre in Goa for a period of two months. Parents of the under-five children were interviewed and vaccination dates were obtained from health cards and vaccination delay was assessed.
Results: Out of the total 251 study participants, 43.4% were males and 56.6% were females; 36.7% belonged to <2 years of age whereas 63.3% belonged to >2 years of age group. The education of the mothers and fathers of under five children, upto secondary education was 50.6% and 55.4% respectively and 31.5% of the study participants belonged to high socio-economic status. It was observed that 31% of the study participants (n=78) had a vaccination delay whereas 69% (n=173) of them were vaccinated on time. The reasons for delay in vaccination included unawareness, forgetfulness, sickness and migration. A statistically significant association was found between age, working status, socio-economic status and vaccination delay (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Strategies must be evolved to educate the parents in the study area to have greater awareness regarding the immunization programmes.
References
WHO. Immunization coverage. WHO. World Health Organization; 2018. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs378/en/. Accessed 4 February 2018.
WHO recommendations for routine immunization. Available at: http://www.who.int/immunization/ policy/immunization_schedules/en/. Accessed on 3 February 2018.
Tiwari RR, Kulkarni PNTiwari RR, Kulkarni PN. Delayed immunization against vaccine preventable diseases--factors responsible among children under 5 years of age. Indian J Med Sci. 1999;53:212–5.
Ukey UU, Dantu P, Chitre DS, Pusuluri S, Ukey UU, Dantu P, et al. Factors related to Delayed Immunization among children below 5 years. Int J Biol Med Res Int J Biol Med Res. 2011;2:1171–2.
Sood RK, Sood A, Bharti OK, Ramachandran V, Phull A, Sood RK, et al. High Immunization Coverage but Delayed Immunization Reflects Gaps in Health Management Information System (HMIS) in District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India—An Immunization Evaluation. World J Vaccines. 2015;5:69–78.
Singh JP, Gupta SB, Kariwal P, Singh AK, Imtiaz D, Singh JP, et al. Immunization Status of Under Two Years Children in Rural Bareilly. Sch J Appl Med Sci. 2014;2:826–9.
Rahman MM, Islam MA, Mahalanabis D, Rahman MM, Islam MA, Mahalanabis D. Mothers’ Knowledge about Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Immunization Coverage of a Population with High Rate of Illiteracy. J Trop Pediatr. 1995;41:376–8.
Smith PJ, Humiston SG, Parnell T, Vannice KS, Salmon DA, Smith PJ, et al. The Association between Intentional Delay of Vaccine Administration and Timely Childhood Vaccination Coverage. Public Health Rep. 2010;125:534–41.
Ughade SN, Zodpey SP, Deshpande SG, Jain DUghade SN, Zodpey SP, Deshpande SG, et al. Factors responsible for delayed immunisation among children under 5 years of age. J Indian Med Assoc. 2000;98:4–5.