Vaccination Coverage among Children Under-5 Years of Age in El Quseir City, Red Sea Governorate

Ali, Lobna Abd El Salam; Hany, Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud; Fayed, H M

doi:10.21608/svuijm.2024.303215.1919

Vaccination Coverage among Children Under-5 Years of Age in El Quseir City, Red Sea Governorate

Document Type : Original research articles

Authors

¹ Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.

² Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

³ Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.

10.21608/svuijm.2024.303215.1919

Abstract

Background: One of the best strategies to protect young infants from potentially fatal infections is through vaccination. Tardiness in vaccinations can lead to infectious disease outbreaks because vaccines administered outside of the recommended vaccination schedule create gaps in immunity that make kids more susceptible to infections.
Objectives: To determine vaccination coverage among children less than 5 years of age and to generate data to provide recommendations to improve immunization coverage.
Materials and methods: Our study was a cross-sectional study conducted in the El-Quseir Health Office, El-Quseir City, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt, from March 2023 to June 2023. Data were collected from 283 mothers of under-five children attending the El-Quseir health office via face-to-face interviews; using a pre-designed, pretested, and structured Arabic questionnaire with a brief introduction or explanation of the idea of the research to the children’s mothers.
Results: Knowledge of the mother on vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases were found among 230 (76.7%), information regarding the benefits and effectiveness of vaccines was reported by 89%, details on when the child should receive the vaccines was reported by 267 (89%), and information regarding the risk and side effects of vaccines was true among 68 (22.7%). There was a significant association between full vaccination and information regarding the benefits and effectiveness of vaccines and vaccination information sources.
Conclusion: Mothers were well-informed about vaccinations and had a favorable attitude towards diseases that can be prevented by vaccinations.

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