Beyond universal immunization programme: a study on the awareness of caregivers and utilization of optional vaccines in children aged 18–35 months in Kanpur Nath Bhola1,*, Rao Yashwant Kumar2, Midha Tanu3, Kumari Ranjeeta4, Martolia D.S.5, Kaur Samarjeet6 1Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, VCSGGMS, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India 2Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics 3Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, GMC, Kannauj 4Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Family Medicine, AIIMS, Rishikesh 5Professor, Department of Community Medicine, GMC, Kannauj 6Lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, G.S.V.M.M.C, Kanpur *Correspondence Author: E-mail: bholanath2001@gmail.com
Online published on 21 March, 2015. Abstract Background In India, the newer vaccines are at present being offered as ‘optional vaccines’. Studies regarding optional vaccines in India are scarce and parents need to make informed decision regarding administration of these vaccines. Objective To assess the knowledge of optional vaccines among caregivers of children attending the outpatient department of Pediatrics. To assess the utilization of optional vaccines in children aged 18–35 months attending the outpatient department of Pediatrics
Design Cross-sectional Study Setting Outpatient department of Pediatrics, in 2013 Participants 342, Systematic random sample Results The overall knowledge about the optional vaccines was poor with 68.4% of the respondents having no knowledge regarding any of the optional vaccines. All the optional vaccines were prescribed and administered at the private hospitals except 40% of the MMR vaccine. A significantly higher proportion of children from urban locality, general caste, upper socioeconomic class, birth order of less than 2 and having parents with higher education were immunized with optional vaccines than their respective counterparts. Conclusions It is time for looking into the issues of newer vaccines for the control of emerging childhood illnesses. Top Keywords Drop out, newer vaccines, Optional Vaccines. Top |