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

Abstract

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.

Vaccination coverage and the factors influencing routine childhood vaccination uptake among communities experiencing disadvantage in Vellore, southern India: a mixed-methods study

“…This study found that full immunization coverage among young children from the communities experiencing disadvantage in Vellore was 65% and 77% using information based on vaccination cards or parental recall and vaccination cards alone, respectively. These coverage estimates are similar to recent studies among migrant (67%), tribal (78%), and slum (72%) populations in other parts of India, but lower than the prescribed Mission Indradhanush target of 90% [9,[29][30][31]. Previous studies from India predominantly report coverage estimates combining vaccination cards and parental recall information [12,22,29,[32][33][34][35].…”

“…We also found a positive but non-significant association between parental familiarity with the vaccination schedule and children's vaccination status in the multivariate analysis. Many previous studies among migrant, tribal, and slum-dwelling communities in India report a lack of parental awareness about the vaccination schedule, place of vaccination, and the need for vaccination frequently as reasons for children being partially vaccinated or unvaccinated [12,29,31,35,44]. Parents who participated in the FGDs in our study were generally aware of the benefits of vaccination and could list a few vaccines from the routine immunization schedule.…”

Vaccination and associated factors among tribal children of 1 year age in nine Indian districts: A cross‐sectional study

“…Some other studies also reported a lower proportion of tribal children being fully vaccinated. About 3% of children aged 12–23 months in tribal communities reported not being vaccinated in the Narmada districts of Gujarat [18]. NFHS‐5 reported that approximately 4% of children that belonged to tribes did not receive a single vaccine, and the national average of unvaccinated children was 3.6% [3].…”

“…Health service provision characteristics were significantly associated with a child being fully vaccinated. A child born in a health facility was six times more likely to be fully vaccinated than those born at home (AOR being vaccinated in the Narmada districts of Gujarat [18]. NFHS-5 reported that approximately 4% of children that belonged to tribes did not receive a single vaccine, and the national average of unvaccinated children was 3.6% [3].…”

“…Hosmer-Lemeshow test: χ 2 (p) = 23.272 (0.003); Nagelekerke R 2 = 0.352.were fully vaccinated in four districts of Kerala[13]. Parmar et al reported that 77.7% of children aged 12-23 months were fully vaccinated in the Narmada district of Gujarat[18]. The fifth NFHS reported that 76.5% of the tribal children aged 12-23 months received all basic vaccines [3].…”