Associated Factors to Immunization Timeliness and Completion in Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants at Essos Hospital Center Yaounde
Abstract Introduction. Vaccination is very often delayed in premature and low birth weight infants. However, timely vaccination is even more important in the latter because of their increased susceptibility to infection.Objective. To assess immunization practice and factors associated with vaccine promptness and completeness in former preterm and low-birth-weight infants.Methods. We conducted a retrospective analytical cross-sectional study (January 2017 to February 2019). Main measurement : Promptness and completeness at each contact, Statistical analysis was performed using R software version 3.6.2, logistic regression was used to estimate the Odds Ratio (OR) and their 95% Confidence Interval (CI).Results. We recruited 310 children aged 12 to 36 months born before 37 weeks with low birth weight, 163 (52.6%) of whom were female. Two hundred and fifty-three had received the vaccines at the indicated age, with promptness rate of 81.6%, and 97.7% had completed routine immunization at 9 months. The mean age at vaccination initiation was 6 days ±11 and the mean weight at vaccination initiation was 2233g ±494. High prematurity and very low birth weight were associated with a high rate of vaccine delay: 61.5% [OR: 15.56; (CI: 3.22-118.52; p=0.002)] and 66.7% [OR: 19.19; (CI: 4.67-92.52; p<0.001)] respectively. Distance > 5 km with HEC [OR: 3.48; (CI: 1.68-7.47; p=0.001)] was associated with poor vaccination. Women in common-law unions had the lowest vaccine readiness rate (60.6%), (OR: 3.36; CI: 1.006-10.70; p=0.038). The frequency of occurrence of post immunization adverse events was 24.5%, with fever type in 94.7%.Conclusion. Nearly all premature and/or low-birth-weight children hospitalized at Essos Hospital Center had completed routine immunization at 9 months, and the majority had received the vaccines in a timely manner. Similar study is needed in rural area.