[Factors associated with co-administration of birth dose vaccines in senegalese children]

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Vaccinology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Co-administration of Bacille de Calmette et Guérin (BCG), oral polio vaccine (OPV zero), and birth dose hepatitis B (HepB BD) is recommended.
• Understanding factors influencing vaccine co-administration is crucial for improving immunization coverage.
• This study focuses on the health district of Podor, Senegal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the factors associated with the co-administration of BCG, OPV zero, and HepB BD vaccines.
• To assess the prevalence of co-administration practices in young children (12-23 months).

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 726 children aged 12 to 23 months.
• Two-stage cluster sampling methodology employed.
• Ordinal logistic regression used to identify factors influencing co-administration.

Main Results:

• Only 16% of children received a single dose, while 32% and 52% received two and three doses, respectively.
• Key factors associated with co-administration included caregiver recognition of simultaneous vaccination possibility (aOR=1.46), availability of health records (aOR=6.88), newborn hospitalization (aOR=1.74), and postnatal care advice (aOR=1.72).
• Statistical significance was observed for all identified factors (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Co-administration of birth vaccine doses is an infrequent practice in the Podor health district.
• Enhancing caregiver awareness and improving the availability and maintenance of health information tools are necessary.
• Interventions should focus on these factors to improve vaccine co-administration rates.