Evaluation of BCG vaccination; an intervention study in Hail region, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Inspection of 300 infants attending a primary health care [PHC] center at Hail region showed that 18.8% of children failed to develop BCG reations. This directed attention to inspect the process of vaccination at hospitals in which 80% of deliveries and BCG vaccination took place. Defects in the process of vaccination and sold chain system were noticed. Reorganization of the process of vaccination in addition to training the staff responsible for vaccination were done. A survey was followed to evaluate failure of BCG vaccination before and after the intervention. We checked 4145 infants, two to twelve months of age, for any reaction at the site of BCG vaccination. After intervention vaccination failure dropped from 20.4% to 4.9% for infants vaccinated in hospitals [p = 0.00001], and from 7.9% to 3.2% for those vaccinated in health centers [p = 0.01]. Moreover, before intervention success of BCG vaccination was significantly higher in PHC centers [92.1%] than in hospitals [79.6%]. This difference became insignificant after intervention because success of BCG vaccination in hospitals has increased, up to 95.1% compared to 96.8% in health centers. Inspection of all infants for BCG reaction is continued as a part of routine work at PHC centers, and re-vaccination of those who failed to develop reation to BCG is conducted without any reported complications