Immunization status among children

ABSTRACT

To find out the immunization status against vaccine preventable diseases, timeliness of vaccination according to EPI schedule and availability of EPI card among children aged 0-23 months residing in Jallo village district Lahore. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in village Jallo, District Lahore, having a population of 8061. 331 children aged 0-23 months of the area were included in the study. Data was collected by interviewing the mothers of selected children. Data was entered and analyzed using Epi Info. Frequency distribution with percentages were calculated. Out of total 331 children, 63.4% were fully immunized, 30.5% were partially immunized while 6.1% were not immunized. A child was considered as fully immunized if he/she was vaccinated as per EPI schedule according to his/her age. Only 6.2% were vaccinated according to the EPI schedule and vaccination card was available with 89%. Findings of this small scale study revealed that only 63.4% children were fully immunized which was much less than target of 80%. [EPI objective was to achieve 90% immunization coverage with at least 80% in every district by 2010]. Parents must be motivated to get their children completely vaccinated in a timely manner according to the recommended schedule