TITLE:
Frequency and Reasons for Missed Opportunities for Vaccination in Children under 59 Months of Age Admitted to the Pediatric Department of the Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital, Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Angèle Kalmogho, Ibrahima Fayama, Désiré Lucien Dahourou, Paul Ouédraogo, Caroline Yonaba, Chantal Zoungrana, Fatimata Diallo, Fla Koueta
KEYWORDS:
Missed Opportunities for Vaccination, Child, Reasons, CHU-YO, Burkina Faso
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.15 No.5,
September
18,
2025
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Childhood vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent serious diseases and death in children. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and reasons for missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV) in children under 59 months of age admitted to the Pediatric Department of the Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital (CHU-YO). Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study of 420 children and their mothers/caregivers admitted to the Pediatric Department of the CHU-YO, as well as health workers, from July 15, 2023 to November 15, 2023. Results: The overall frequency of missed vaccination opportunities was 37.14%. Missed vaccination opportunities at birth and at 15 months were 10.7% and 71.9%, respectively. The main reasons for MOV were: lack of communication about vaccines (60.71%), parents’ lack of knowledge of the EPI schedule (49.76%), and illness in children (25.71%). For health workers, the reasons included: lack of training on vaccination in the previous two years (81.08%), not systematically checking health records (79.72%), and stockouts of EPI vaccines at the health center (71.62%). Conclusion: Missed opportunities for vaccination remain high despite national efforts. Improving these indicators requires actively tracking incompletely vaccinated children in our centers to reduce the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases.