AWARENESS OF GENERAL PUBLIC TOWARDS POLIO IMMUNIZATION IN RURAL PUNJAB PAKISTAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-51
Author(s):  
Zafeer Ulhassan Iqbal ◽  
Hira Ashraf ◽  
Bisma Farooq

Background: Poliomyelitis is the acute viral infections of children under the age of five years. Pakistan is among the three countries, along with Nigeria and Afghanistan that are endemic to polio. In 2012, government of Pakistan approved a National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for polio eradication. Parents are reluctant towards immunization due to some religious beliefs. In current study we are accessing the attitude and behavior of general population towards polio vaccination. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted during 2017 in 4 district of Punjab (Faisalabad, Sheikhpura, Kasur and Lahore) Pakistan. The pretested, piloted and validated instrument with a 20 items structured questionnaire was used for this research. The response rate was 84% during the course of Study. Results: In study population 79% of the respondents were well aware of the term Polio. The positive response towards polio immunization was analyzed for only 62% of the parents. 70.46% of the parents strongly agreed with the medical therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of the disease whereas 29.54% of the respondents were found to believe that polio might be caused due to the evil effects Conclusion: Study concluded that the general public is well informed about polio vaccination and giving vaccine to their children on regular basis.

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Athar Ansari ◽  
Zulfia Khan ◽  
Saira Mehnaz ◽  
M Salman Shah ◽  
A Jafar Abedi ◽  
...  

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease and mainly affects children under five years of age. The present cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the impact of social mobilization on families resistant to giv-ing polio drops to their children. One round of polio drop administration during September, 2012 was selected ran-domly from total six rounds of Pulse Polio Immunization campaign carried out in the year 2012 in Aligarh, India. Medical interns of the Aligarh Muslim University were trained as social mobilizers by the UNICEF, Rotary Interna-tional trainers and divided into Teams ‘A’ and ‘B’. The teams of social mobilizers visited the households that re-fused to give polio drops to their children because of certain rumors and misguided beliefs. Medical intern tried to convince the family members that polio drops were safe and it did not hurt any religious and cultural sentiments. The total number of resistant families, identified during the house to house outreach activity of Team ‘A’ was 309. A large number of houses (70.9%) were converted to P houses (houses where children had polio vaccination). Ninety houses (29.1%) remained resistant even after the activity of Team ‘A’. These resistant houses were again visited by Team ‘B’ members. Out of these 90 houses, polio drops were administered in 70 (78.9%) houses. How-ever, after maximum efforts of both the teams, only 19 (21.1%) houses remained extremely resistant. Large numbers of resistant families were converted to P houses where children were administered oral polio drops. However, some of the families remained resistant even after maximum efforts of the teams. These extremely resistant families might be the potent sources of polio infection in the community and they should be followed up strictly. Strategies and polices should be developed to cover all children of the community by assessing the reasons for families resistance to polio drop, examining the past failures/limitations in program implementation, and implementing the effective social mobilizing techniques. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v3i2.20035 South East Asian Journal of Public Health Vol.3(2) 2013: 23-29


Author(s):  
Manisha Sarkar ◽  
Urmila Dasgupta ◽  
Saikat Bhattacharya ◽  
Krishna Das Bhattacharyya ◽  
Salil Kumar Bhattacharya

Background: In order to maintain the polio free status of India, it is vital to monitor the ongoing oral polio vaccination for international travellers. The aim of the study was to determine the status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers from India to polio infected countries and to find out the determinants of deviation from proposed guidelines. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 International travellers from November 2014 to April 2015 at a designated Polio vaccination centre for international travellers in Kolkata. A pre-designed pre-tested schedule was used to collect oral polio vaccination related details. The travellers who gave consent were eligible for the study. Data was expressed in terms of mean, median, standard deviation etc. Association between variables was tested by Chi square test. Results: 32.7% of the travellers had inadequate gap between OPV & travel. Knowledge of gap between OPV and travel was perceived more from health centres and travel agencies than mass media. Inadequate gap was more among lower age group, males, those with information source as mass media, official purpose of visit, those with incorrect knowledge regarding the gap requirement and those who maintained at least four weeks gap between OPV and yellow fever vaccine. Conclusions: Wrong information from the source is responsible for wrong knowledge among the travellers which leads to inadequate gap between OPV and travel. It is crucial to increase awareness among the vaccinators and international travellers in order to contribute towards global polio eradication. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (05) ◽  
pp. 608-613
Author(s):  
Shumaila Humayun ◽  
Warda Imran ◽  
Iram Naheed ◽  
Nazish Javid ◽  
Misbah Hussain ◽  
...  

Background: Worldwide practice of self-medication is increasing and due to lackof awareness emphasis is put on counseling of general public. Aim: To assess the practices ofself-medication among general public. Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Place andduration of study: Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi from February 2015 to September2015. Methods: Two hundred and fifty five attendants accompanying patients in general OPDof Fauji Foundation Hospital completed a self-administered questionnaire translated in urdulanguage for this study. Results: Out of 255 study participants, 168 (or 65.9%) practiced selfmedication.The prevalence was found highest among 25 to 38 years old (70.2%) and wasalmost equally distributed in males 65 (65.65%) and females 103 (66.02%). The main reasonsfor self-medication were lack of time (43.45%), and high doctor fee (35.71%).Factors influencingthis practice were age, employment, income and the education level. Conclusions: The studyrevealed that prevalence of self-medication was high among study population. Majority ofrespondents practiced self-medication for minor ailments and to get quick relief, or to avoidhigh doctor fee. Pharmacies are a big source of providing drugs for self-medication. Thereis need for healthcare professionals to educate the general public about the hazards ofinappropriate medicine use, and there should be restrictions on over-the-counter sale of drugswithout doctor’s prescription.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 53-59
Author(s):  
Theingi Maung Maung ◽  
Shivenanthini Kulandaivalu ◽  
Chee Mei Xian ◽  
Kughan Ramachandra ◽  
Sankari Jai Devaraj ◽  
...  

Background: Polio is reported as reemerging disease in Malaysia after 27 years of being free from it. It is important to identify the awareness towards polio vaccine among the medical students who are the future and the pillars of the nation, to develop a country. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and barriers toward polio immunization among pre-clinical medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 190 pre-clinical students from a private university after obtaining informed consent and institutional ethical clearance. Data collected from Google Forms questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Insufficient knowledge, especially on disease nature, transmission, and correct dosage of vaccine, was noticed. Findings revealed that 79.5% of the students showed unfavorable attitude toward polio immunization. Year 2 students are more positive toward the vaccination compared to year 1. Main barriers toward polio immunization selected by the respondents are disagreement from the spouse, insecure about vaccine safety, and distance of the health center. Conclusion: Pre-clinical students should enhance their knowledge to be able to recognize the various barriers of polio immunization in our country and be part of the effort in solving these barriers as polio eradication is critical to ensuring a healthier future for children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-101
Author(s):  
Mariana APOSTOL

Introduction. Monitoring acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is a key strategy used by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in assessing the progress towards the global eradication goal. Material and methods. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted during the years 2002-2017. The current research was carried out within the National Agency for Public Health - Virology Laboratory. The study focused on a period of 15 years (2002-2017), during which the Republic of Moldova was included as a polio-free country. Results. Thus, over 15 years (2002-2017) there were reported and registered 118 non-polio cases (AFP) on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The data of our study determined the rate of non-polio cases for the period 2002-2017, which ranged between 0.3-2.3 per 100 000 children, cumulatively, the incidence being of 17.9 cases per 100 000 children. The rate of males diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis accounted for 54.2%. Most cases were registered in the Central areas, including Chisinau city (29.7%) and other localities involving the same area 28.8%. Conclusion. The study results showed that the Republic of Moldova has feasible monitoring of the epidemiological situation on polio, including an action plan for further preventive measures and surveillance of poliomyelitis, where detection, registration and investigation of AFP is the "gold standard" aimed at providing a favourable epidemiological situation.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Sheh Mureed ◽  
Muhammad Hassan Gandro ◽  
Walid Hassan

Background: Globally, 3.1 million newborn deaths occur every year out of these estimated 400,000 neonatal deaths occur in Pakistan. All neonatal deaths 99% take place in poorest region and countries of the world, usually within hours of birth; mostly the cause of neonatal deaths is hypoxia. To access knowledge and practice of SBAs regarding HBB and to access the availability of equipments required for HBB. Methods: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study on SBAs as trained in HBB. All 46 SBAs trained on HBB working in Labour room eight rural Health centers, four Taluka, One district Head Quarter Health Facilities and thirteen Mlbcs of the district, were included in the sample for study. All 41 SBAs were trained on HBB participated in the study. Results: Mean age of 30 years. Out of total 41 participants 25 were working in B-EmoNC (61%), 3in C-EmoNC (7.3%) and 13 in mid wife laid birth Centre (MLBC) or birth station (31.7%). About 92.7% of participants said that main purpose of HBB training is to decrease the NMR by improving newborn care. Drying of newborn is 82.7%, hand washing is 95.12% and 85.3% of the study participants said that they gave 30-40 breaths per minutes. Cord clamp and pair of ties was accessible to 85% of participants versus 14.3% who reported it's not accessible. Almost one quarter (34.1%) participants have low knowledge and practice. Knowledge and training had significant effect on the overall practices of the skilled birth attendants for skilled birth deliveries and reduce the neonatal deaths (P <0.001). Conclusion: Tools play a vital role for the implication of the knowledge into practices and tools were available almost to every participant. Although few barriers also identified for the less application of the helping hand babies trainings in the community.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Zerrin Gamsizkan ◽  
Mehmet Ali Sungur ◽  
Yasemin Çayır

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the factors that may affect the demands of patients who come with the request to have a blood test without any chronic disease or a planned examination check. Methods: The data of this descriptive, cross-sectional study, were collected with a questionnaire that was prepared to examine the opinions of the patients who claim to have a blood test by coming to the family health center without any complaints. Patients over 18 years of age, who did not have any chronic disease and had no scheduled examination appointments were included in the study. Results: A total of 278 patients who wanted to have a blood test within the 6-months period were included in the study. Female patients who wanted to have a blood test were significantly more than male patients. When we look at the causes of patients who wanted to have a blood test; 61.2% (n=170) patients stated that they are concerned about their health and 6.1% (n=17) stated that they were affected by media warnings. There was no significant relationship between the frequency of blood test requests of patients and their age, gender, education, and general health status. Conclusion: Patients with high expectations and anxiety may be more willing to perform blood tests at inappropriate intervals. Family physicians, whose primary role is preventive medicine, have consultancy and information duties in order to protect their patients from the risk of over-examination and diagnosis. Keywords: blood tests, patient, screening, routine diagnostic tests


2012 ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Thi Minh Xuan Doan ◽  
Xuan Chuong Tran

Children with mental retardation have low intelligence, slow thinking, low learning ability in comparison with the same age children. Objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of children with mental retardation in Hue City. 2. To study some characteristics of children with mental retardation. Materials and methodes: All children with mental retardation in Hue city. Cross sectional study. Results: The prevalence of children with mental retardation (CMR) among children under 15 yrs is 0.23%, among disable children 38.16%. The highest prevalences ware in Phu Binh, Xuan Phu quarters (0.79 and 0.66%), lowest in Thuan Loc, Thuan Thanh quarters (0.03 and 0.06%). Children over 5 yrs old were 75.95%. Most of children have slow development in movement and daily activities. More than 78% have late walking, 84% have late speaking. Conclusions: The prevalence of children with mental retardation among children under 15 yrs is 0.23%, among disable children 38.16%. Most of children have slow development in movement and daily activities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Perla Werner ◽  
Sarang Kim

Background: Despite the increasing amount of research on dementia stigma, there is a dearth of cross-national studies conducted on this subject. This is surprising since the experience of stigma is closely associated to socio-cultural aspects. Objective: The present study intended to expand knowledge about the impact of culture on dementia stigma by comparing the level and correlates of stigmatic beliefs about dementia among the general public in Israel and Australia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted with two age-matched samples: 447 adults in Israel and 290 adults in Australia. Results: Overall, dementia stigma was moderate in both countries. However, the level of dementia stigma was significantly higher in Australia than in Israel. Lower levels of subjective knowledge and higher levels of ageism were associated with increased levels of stigmatic beliefs in both countries. Gender was a significant correlate of dementia stigma, with male participants reporting higher levels of public stigma than women, although this gender difference was mainly driven by the Australian sample. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that providing knowledge and decreasing ageist attitudes should be key considerations in dementia awareness and stigma reduction campaigns despite the cultural context. In addition, developing gender-specific messages should be considered as a way of improving the effects of such campaigns.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2344
Author(s):  
Franca Genest ◽  
Dominik Rak ◽  
Elisa Bätz ◽  
Kerstin Ott ◽  
Lothar Seefried

Sarcopenia and malnutrition are important determinants of increased fracture risk in osteoporosis. SARC-F and MNA-SF are well-established questionnaires for identifying patients at risk for these conditions. We sought to evaluate the feasibility and potential added benefit of such assessments as well as the actual prevalence of these conditions in osteoporosis patients. We conducted a cross-sectional, single-center study in female osteoporosis patients ≥ 65 years (SaNSiBaR-study). Results of the sarcopenia (SARC-F) and malnutrition (MNA-SF) screening questionnaires were matched with a functional assessment for sarcopenia and data from patients’ medical records. Out of 107 patients included in the analysis, a risk for sarcopenia (SARC-F ≥ 4 points) and a risk for malnutrition (MNA-SF ≤ 11 points) was found in 33 (30.8%) and 38 (35.5%) patients, respectively. Diagnostic overlap with coincident indicative findings in both questionnaires was observed in 17 patients (16%). As compared to the respective not-at-risk groups, the mean short physical performance battery (SPPB) score was significantly reduced in both patients at risk for sarcopenia (7.0 vs. 10.9 points, p < 0.001) and patients at risk for malnutrition (8.7 vs. 10.5 points, p = 0.005). Still, confirmed sarcopenia according to EWGSOP2 criteria was present in only 6 (6%) of all 107 patients, with only 3 of them having an indicative SARC-F score. Bone mineral density was not significantly different in any of the at-risk groups at any site. In summary, applying SARC-F and MNA-SF in osteoporosis patients appears to be a complementary approach to identify individuals with functional deficits.


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