Prevalence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Kilindi District, Tanga Region, Tanzania

Background; Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) account for nearly 20% of the 8.8 million deaths/year among children under five years. Due to the extended program on immunization effort in 2018, more than 80% of children were immunized in the first year toward six targeted infections. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases in under‐five children in Kilindi District in Tanga.

Methodology; A prospective descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out in the Kilindi district, Tanga region. A total of 100 mothers/caregivers of children under 5years participated in the study. Data analyzed by the SPSS version 20 software.

Results; Out of 100 children surveyed, 23 suffered from one or more diseases. Pneumonia was the most prevalent VPD in the community (15 cases). Most of the patients recovered completely (78.3%), whereas 13% died, 4.35% recovered with a disability, and 4.35% not retrieved during the study. The majority of respondents were aware of Poliomyelitis, measles, and pneumonia as VPD, but only a few have heard about pertussis (4.9%) and no one about diphtheria. Health workers were the predominant sources of information. The majority of the children were delivered at the Health facility (78%), and all of them received some form of the vaccine. The sociocultural factors found to affect the utilization of routine immunization services include the place of delivery and educational level.

Conclusion; The study revealed that pneumonia was the most prevalent vaccine-preventable disease in the study area. The awareness of vaccine-preventable diseases was low, except for tuberculosis, measles, and pneumonia. Strengthening routine immunization, including demand creation programs, is highly recommended.