Knowledge and attitude towards childhood immunization among mothers & reasons for incomplete immunization

Abstract

Vaccination is the most cost-effective mechanism that aims to prevent and reduce the risk of some infectious diseases. The research goal is to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and experiences of mothers towards child immunization. In the framework of cross-sectional research, 188 mothers, who have child less than 5 years of age, were interviewed. The majority of mothers (97%) have positive attitudes towards immunization. The majority of mothers believe that vaccination plays an important role in preventing diseases. Though, 32% of mothers do not have the sufficient knowledge/information concerning routine vaccination schedule. 36% of children have incomplete vaccination. The reasons for incomplete vaccination are: the lack of knowledge on routine vaccination schedule (25,5%), less information about the necessity of second/third dose (18.6%), fear of post-vaccination side effects (16%), child illness (9.6%). Significant association was found between mothers’ education, practice and attitude regarding immunization. Health institutions (49.5%) and internet sources (21.3%) were the most frequent sources of information regarding immunization. It is essential to raise the public awareness on the importance of immunization by education programmes, electronic and mass media.