Sex bias in immunization coverage in an urban area of U.P.

Two hundred and ten female and two hundred and ten male children aged 1-2 years were identified using 30 cluster random sampling technique in the Nagar Palika of Sitapur. The immunization status was determined to assess differences, if any, in the coverage in accordance with the sex of the child. Except for measles, a significantly higher vaccination coverage was observed for male children as compared to females for every vaccine, this being 65.2 and 60.9%, respectively for DPT III and OPV III for males as compared to 51.9 and 49.5%, respectively for girls. The drop out rates for DPT and OPV were also found to be higher (p greater than 0.05) in female children. However, no difference was observed in the reasons for non-immunization between the female and male children.