Asif Manzoor Basra, Nabila Mushtaq, Afsheen Batool Raza.
Causes of Poor Vaccination Coverage in Children under 5 Years of age Presenting to a Tertiary Care Hospital.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(2):870-3.

Aim: To determine the various factors involved in poor-vaccination/non-vaccination in children Study design: Cross-sectional observational study. Place and duration of study: The Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health Lahore, from November 2017 to January 2018. Methodology: A total of 303 patients between age 1 month and 5 years (60 month) were recorded on a pre- designed proforma. Vaccination status of each patient appropriate for that age, educational and socioeconomic status of the parents, their knowledge of and access to vaccination and the reason / possible factors involved in case of non-vaccination or under-vaccination were documented. The data were entered and analysed in SPSS version 16.0. Results: Out of 303 patients, 227 (74.9%) children were fully vaccinated with EPI antigens according to their age and 76(25.1%) were either partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. Out of those who were not totally unvaccinated or under-vaccinated, false contraindications (28/76=36.8%) was the largest group followed by those who had lack of awareness (18/76= 23.7%). Parental education particularly that of the mother was strongly correlated to mother’s knowledge about the vaccination schedule and to the child being fully vaccinated (p value 0.000) Conclusion: False contraindications to vaccination assumed by the parents particularly mothers and vaccinator are the most common cause of under-vaccination or non-vaccination in children. Mother’s educational status is the most important denominator under lying under-vaccination or non-vaccination.

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