Predictors to parental knowledge about childhood immunisation/EPI vaccines in two health districts in Cameroon prior to the introduction of 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCV-13)

Abstract

IntroductionPneumonia is vaccine-preventable, but the increasing death toll resulting from the disease in Sub-Saharan Africa is alarming. Several factors account for vaccine failing to reach every child, besides incomplete vaccine coverage. Most of these include the perceptions of parents/guardians and healthcare providers. Previous studies on the introduction of new vaccines have focused on experimental trials, coverage figures and vaccine efficacy in developed countries. Little is known on the factors which may hinder the implementation process despite the huge challenges this may encounter in developing countries. This study described the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of parents/guardians on pneumonia and immunisations/EPI vaccines; identify predictive parental socio-economic/demographic characteristics that of good knowledge on pneumonia infections, routine EPI vaccines and the PCV-13. Finally, the study described health center personnel perceptions about immunisations.MethodsThe WHO's immunisation coverage cluster survey design was used, involving parents/guardians (n = 205) of children aged 0-59 months and health centre personnel (n = 13) directly concerned with vaccination activities between July-September 2010 in two health districts in Yaounde, Cameroon. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic models were used to analyse the parental/guardian data while the health personnel data was only analysed descriptively using SPSS version 17.0.ResultsOnly 19% of the parents/guardians were aware of the availability of the PCV-13. Logistic modelling identified important associations between parental socio-economic/demographic factors and good knowledge on pneumonia disease burden and prevention.ConclusionAccording to parents/guardians a short and clear message on the dangers of pneumonia and the need for prevention provided to parents/guardians during sensitisation/out-reach campaigns and use of social network avenues would be primordial, if the PCV-13 is to reach every child.

Burden of vaccine-preventable diseases, trends in vaccine coverage and current challenges in the implementation of the expanded program on immunization: A situation analysis of Cameroon

“…In a study designed to describe and analyze the socio-economic/demographic determinants and predictors to parental knowledge on immunizations, only 19% of those sampled were aware of the availability of the PCV-13. 67 This was in line with the study reported in Niger and Nigeria, with a low rate (4%) of knowledge about Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) 66 and the low rate of awareness (1%) that measles was vaccine-preventable, respectively. 67 Health education, training, and refresher courses for healthcare workers on vaccination will ensure that women attending antenatal care get adequate information on vaccination.…”

“… 67 This was in line with the study reported in Niger and Nigeria, with a low rate (4%) of knowledge about Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) 66 and the low rate of awareness (1%) that measles was vaccine-preventable, respectively. 67 Health education, training, and refresher courses for healthcare workers on vaccination will ensure that women attending antenatal care get adequate information on vaccination. 68 …”

Assessing the causes of under-five mortality and proportion associated with pneumococcal diseases in Cameroon. A case-finding retrospective observational study: 2006–2012

“…We applied a retrospective case-finding observational study design using hospital registration data from the infectious disease surveillance sites hosted at the MCH in Yaoundé, Cameroon (Fig 1). As earlier described [13], the sites involved hospitals in both an urban and rural/semi-urban zones around Yaoundé, with a population of over 3.5 million inhabitants out of which 18% are children under-five [14].…”

Parental knowledge and attitudes towards hereditary hearing loss and genetic technology

“…Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey is a method to reveal what specific groups of individuals know about certain topics and how they interact with them. KAP questionnaire has been extensively used by researchers in various health fields to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals [15][16][17], patients [18,19], and caregivers [20][21][22]. In audiology, KAP approach is commonly employed to investigate diverse hearing issues, including harmful noise exposure [23] and neonatal and preschool hearing screening [24,25].…”