The Institute of Child Health immunization clinic offers services to inhabitants of Benin city, the capital of Edo state in mid-western Nigeria. The services offered include immunization, growth monitoring, nutrition education, and general health education. Immunizations are offered everyday, except for BCG and measles, which are offered only on Fridays. Every child who commences immunization in this facility has a record of his/her biodata and the date of receipt of various vaccines. About 1,000 children per year receive their immunizations in this facility. The immunization services offered were evaluated in terms of the timeliness of receipt of vaccines, the immunization rates for individual vaccines, including the recent additions to the schedule, and the completion rates of the infant immunization schedules
The study included 512 consecutive children who received their routine immunizations at the facility during September 2004–March 2005. Data on date of birth, age at commencement of immunization, place of birth, age of mother, age of father, and the date of receipt of various vaccines were retrieved from the clinic records of these children. Age at receipt of immunization was calculated in days using the dates of birth and the dates of receipt of vaccines. At the time of review of data (March 2007), the youngest child was aged at least 24 months. The number of visits made was also recorded. The uptake of vaccines was recorded as simple percentages.
The timeliness of receipt of a vaccine is determined by the recommended age for receipt of the given vaccine. Previous studies on timeliness, involving schedules recommending receipt of vaccines at specific dates, have allowed 14, 28, and 30 days of the grace period (2 (link),3 ,7 ). In this study, four timeframes were used for evaluating the timeliness of receipt of three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV1, OPV2, and OPV3), three doses of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine (DPT1, DPT2, and DPT3), and three doses of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB birth, HepB2, and HepB3) as follows: (a) too early if the vaccine was received earlier than the recommended age; (b) being on time if the vaccine was received on or before two weeks after the due date; (c) acceptably early if received between two and four weeks after the due date, and (d) delayed if received after four weeks of the due date.
Full immunization was defined as receipt of BCG, three doses of OPV, three doses of DPT, three doses of hepatitis B vaccine, and a dose each of measles and yellow fever vaccines respectively.
Drop-out rate was calculated as the difference in percentage coverage in between the consecutive vaccines.
The study included 512 consecutive children who received their routine immunizations at the facility during September 2004–March 2005. Data on date of birth, age at commencement of immunization, place of birth, age of mother, age of father, and the date of receipt of various vaccines were retrieved from the clinic records of these children. Age at receipt of immunization was calculated in days using the dates of birth and the dates of receipt of vaccines. At the time of review of data (March 2007), the youngest child was aged at least 24 months. The number of visits made was also recorded. The uptake of vaccines was recorded as simple percentages.
The timeliness of receipt of a vaccine is determined by the recommended age for receipt of the given vaccine. Previous studies on timeliness, involving schedules recommending receipt of vaccines at specific dates, have allowed 14, 28, and 30 days of the grace period (2 (link),3 ,7 ). In this study, four timeframes were used for evaluating the timeliness of receipt of three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV1, OPV2, and OPV3), three doses of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine (DPT1, DPT2, and DPT3), and three doses of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB birth, HepB2, and HepB3) as follows: (a) too early if the vaccine was received earlier than the recommended age; (b) being on time if the vaccine was received on or before two weeks after the due date; (c) acceptably early if received between two and four weeks after the due date, and (d) delayed if received after four weeks of the due date.
Full immunization was defined as receipt of BCG, three doses of OPV, three doses of DPT, three doses of hepatitis B vaccine, and a dose each of measles and yellow fever vaccines respectively.
Drop-out rate was calculated as the difference in percentage coverage in between the consecutive vaccines.
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