Vaccine coverage of preschool children in rural and semi-rural Thessaly a pilot study

Abstract

Immunization coverage estimates are useful tools for a variety of purposes as to monitor the performance of immunization services in order to identify areas for improvement, to guide certain communicable diseases eradication and to make an evidence-based health policy. The aim of this pilot study was to estimate the immunization coverage of the children in the rural and semi-rural regions of Thessaly. We performed a coverage survey by using an anonymous and especially designed questionnaire to assess the vaccination history. Pre-school children were recruited from the rural and semi-rural area of Thessaly on the basis of their availability after an informed consent of the parents was obtained. Participants were divided in two major groups: (a) Rural group: 118 children from rural regions of Thessaly and (b) Semi-rural group: 93 children from the semi-rural regions of Thessaly. The mean age of rural group was 4.97±1.33 and that of semi-rural group was 4.51±1.51 years. Results: all the four doses of DTP vaccine were performed in the sample of the children from the rural regions opposed to them from the semi-rural regions. Among the children from the rural regions no one had documented the second dose of MMR, instead of 7 children from the semi-rural regions. In Conclusion, protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases is a high priority in public health. Vaccination coverage among preschool children must be continuously monitored. In a new era in which the incidence of childhood diseases has dramatically declined we need to improve the quality and quantity of vaccination delivery services, and to increase community participation, education, and partnerships.