Publication:

Vaccination coverage of children in tribal Narmada district of Gujarat: a cross sectional study

Background Vaccination being one of the cheapest and safest methods of primary prevention, indicators of maternal and child healthcare are crucial. Multi-indicator cluster survey was planned to check these objectives as set up in reproductive child health (RCH)-II and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) plan. This study was initiated to determine the vaccination coverage among the children in tribal district in Gujarat and to determine factors associated with partial immunization and non-immunization.

Methods A community based cross-sectional study was done in tribal district Narmada in Gujarat for a period of four months from May 2011 to August 2011. The study population consisted of all children aged between 12-23 months. After using cluster sampling method, assessment of vaccination programme was obtained from 346 out of total 352 children scattered across 30 clusters. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was administered by interview technique.

Results Highest coverage was seen in the first dose of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) 95.7% (CI 92.3-99) followed by Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) 95.4% (CI 92-98.7) and first dose of oral poliovirus vaccines (OPV) 95.4% (CI 92-98.7). The proportion of fully immunized children was 77.7% (CI 69.4-86.1), whereas 2.9% (CI 0.0-6.1) children were not vaccinated at all. The drop-out rate was 8.76% from DPT1 to DPT3 and 16% for DPT1 to measles.

Conclusions Vaccination   coverage   was highest for DPT first dose followed by BCG. The drop- out rate was 8.76% from DPT1 to DPT3 and 16% for DPT1 to measles. Non-awareness regarding subsequent doses of vaccines was most common reason for partial or non-vaccination.