TITLE:
Completeness and Timeliness of Hepatitis B Vaccination in Preschool Children: Determinants for Good and Timely Uptake in Libreville, Gabon
AUTHORS:
Steeve Minto’o, Emery Itoudi Bignoumba, Fifi Loembe, Angela Mekame, Leatitia Abang, Diane Zoua, Simon Ategbo
KEYWORDS:
Hepatitis B, Vaccination, Timeliness, Completeness, Children, Gabon
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.12 No.1,
March
21,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: Gabon is endemic for hepatitis B, but they have
still not reached the WHO goal for Hepatitis B vaccination
coverage. We aimed to determine the rate of completeness and timeliness of
hepatitis B vaccination among children under 15 years of age in Libreville. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted over 9 months, including children randomly
selected from vaccination centres, nurseries and kindergartens. We collected
data on the child, socio-economic characteristics of the families, and dates of
administration of hepatitis B vaccines. We determined the compliance of the
vaccination dates according to the vaccination start pattern. Results: We
included 453 children, of whom 236 were girls, for a sex ratio of 0.92. A total
of 87% (95% CI [83.9% - 90.1%]) of children had started and completed their 3
doses of vaccine before the 12th month of age. 149 subjects had
received their 3 doses on time according to the original vaccination schedule, i.e. 32.9% (95% CI [28.6% - 37.2%]).
Factors significantly associated with completeness were vaccination in a public
centre OR = 114 [47.2 - 347] p st dose OR
= 3 [1.6 - 5.5] p - 1.5] p 0.001). Conclusion: The respect for the vaccination deadlines is insufficient in
our context, solutions exist to improve this situation.