Reasons for failure of immunization: A cross-sectional study among 12-23-month-old children of Lucknow, India

Background: Roughly 3 million children die every year of vaccine preventable diseases and a significant number of these children live in developing countries. The present study was conducted to assess the reasons for failure of immunization among 12-23-month-old children of Lucknow city in India. Materials and Methods: Out of all villages in rural areas and mohallas in urban areas of Lucknow district, eight villages and eight mohallas were selected by simple random sampling. A community based cross-sectional study was done among 450 children aged 12-23 months. The immunization status of the child was assessed by vaccination card and by mother′s recall. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit information on reasons for failure of immunization. Data was analysed using statistical package for social services (SPSS) version 11.5. Chi square test was used to find out the significant association. Results: Overall, 62.7% children were fully immunized, 24.4% children were partially immunized, and 12.9% children were not immunized. The major reasons for failure of immunization were postponing it until another time, child being ill and hence not brought to the centre for immunization, unaware of the need of immunization, place of immunization being too far, no faith in immunization, unaware of the need to return for 2 nd and 3 rd dose, mother being too busy, fear of side reactions, wrong ideas about immunization, and polio was considered only vaccine, and others. Conclusion: More awareness should be generated among the people living in rural and urban areas to immunize their children

Immunization coverage and its determinants among 12-23 months old children of Lucknow

Context:Roughly three million children die each year of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) with a significant number of these children residing in developing countries. Aims: The present study was conducted to assess the immunization status of 12-23 months old children and its determinants in Lucknow. Settings and Design: List of all villages in rural area and mohallas in urban area of Lucknow district was procured. Eight villages and eight mohallas were selected by simple random sampling. A community based cross sectional study was done among 450 children aged 12-23 months. Materials and Methods: A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit information on family characteristics, bio social characteristics, and housing characteristics. The immunization status of the child was assessed by vaccination card and by mother′s recall, where vaccination card was not available. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using statistical package for social services (SPSS) version 11.5. Chi-square test will be used to find out the significant association. Results: Overall, 62.7% children were fully immunized, 24.4% children were partially immunized, and 12.9% children were not immunized. The various determinants of immunization status of the child the place of residence, religion, socio economic status, father′s education and father′s occupation, source of information regarding immunization, registration of pregnancy, number of ante natal visits, iron and folic acid tablets consumed by the mother, tetanus toxoid received by the mother, place of delivery and the attendant who conducted the delivery. Conclusion: More awareness should be generated among the people living in rural and urban area, to immunize their children and to prevent the morbidity and mortality from six lethal vaccine preventable diseases

Determinants of the unmet need for family planning among women of Jaipur, Rajasthan

Background: More than 100 million women in less developed countries or about 17% of all married women would prefer to avoid pregnancy, but are not using any form of family planning. Despite the government′s many efforts, the unmet need for family planning in India is still 12.8%. The present study is aimed to assess prevalence of the unmet need for family planning, its determinants, and the reasons for the unmet need for family planning. Materials and Methods: A sample size of 500 was divided equally among the rural and urban areas. A simple random technique was used to select the first household for the survey. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used to record the information. Data was entered on Microsoft Access and analyzed using the statistical software SPSS version 11.5 for Windows Vista. The chi square test was used for finding the association and trends. Results: In the present study, 35% of the population had an unmet need, of which 58.28% belonged to rural area, while 41.71% belonged to the urban area. The significant determinants associated with the unmet need for family planning were religion, type of family, husband′s education and occupation, socioeconomic class, women′s age, women′s education and occupation, exposure to mass media, and healthcare facility where services were provided. Overall, lack of motivation and obstacles were the major reasons for the unmet need. Conclusion: Improved access to family planning services, better education, improved standard of living, and higher exposure to mass media can significantly decrease the unmet need of family planning

Evaluation of integrated child development services program in rajasthan, India

Background: The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is the largest program for promotion of maternal and child health and nutrition. Aims: The present study is aimed to evaluate ICDS program in terms of infrastructure of anganwadi centers (AWCs), characteristics of anganwadi workers (AWWs), coverage of supplementary nutrition (SN), and preschool education (PSE) to the beneficiaries. Methods: A total of 39 AWCs from a rural area and 15 from the urban area were surveyed. AWWs were interviewed, and records were reviewed. Information was collected using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Results: In the selected AWCs, 88.9% were running in Pucca buildings, 38.9% had electricity, 35.1% had a separate kitchen, 1.8% had cooking gas, and toilets were available in 59.3% AWCs. All the AWW have received job training, 83.3% AWW have received refresher training. 38.8% AWW have received orientation training, 37% have received skill training in World Health Organization growth standards and 18.5% AWW have received skill training in mother and child health. 86.9% registered pregnant women, 90.7% registered lactating women, 72.6% registered adolescent girls were availing SN. 95.4% registered children 6 months to 3 years and 92.4% registered children 3-6 years of age were availing SN. Interruption in SN in last 6 months was seen in 22.2% AWCs. Appropriate and adequate PSE material was available in 59.2% AWCs. Conclusion: There are program gaps in the infrastructure of AWCs, training of AWW, coverage of SN, interruption in the supply of SN

Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India – A multicentric matched case–control study

Background & objectives: In view of anecdotal reports of sudden unexplained deaths in India's apparently healthy young adults, linking to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection or vaccination, we determined the factors associated with such deaths in individuals aged 18-45 years through a multicentric matched case–control study. Methods: This study was conducted through participation of 47 tertiary care hospitals across India. Cases were apparently healthy individuals aged 18-45 years without any known co-morbidity, who suddenly (<24 h of hospitalization or seen apparently healthy 24 h before death) died of unexplained causes during 1st October 2021-31st March 2023. Four controls were included per case matched for age, gender and neighborhood. We interviewed/perused records to collect data on COVID-19 vaccination/infection and post-COVID-19 conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency and binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before death/interviews. We developed regression models considering COVID-19 vaccination ≤42 days before outcome, any vaccine received anytime and vaccine doses to compute an adjusted matched odds ratio (aOR) with 95 per cent confidence interval (CI). Results: Seven hundred twenty nine cases and 2916 controls were included in the analysis. Receipt of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine lowered the odds [aOR (95% CI)] for unexplained sudden death [0.58 (0.37, 0.92)], whereas past COVID-19 hospitalization [3.8 (1.36, 10.61)], family history of sudden death [2.53 (1.52, 4.21)], binge drinking 48 h before death/interview [5.29 (2.57, 10.89)], use of recreational drug/substance [2.92 (1.1, 7.71)] and performing vigorous-intensity physical activity 48 h before death/interview [3.7 (1.36, 10.05)] were positively associated. Two doses lowered the odds of unexplained sudden death [0.51 (0.28, 0.91)], whereas single dose did not. Interpretation & conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India. Past COVID-19 hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviors increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden death

Post COVID sequelae among COVID-19 survivors: insights from the Indian National Clinical Registry for COVID-19

Introduction The effects of COVID-19 infection persist beyond the active phase. Comprehensive description and analysis of the post COVID sequelae in various population groups are critical to minimise the long-term morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. This analysis was conducted with an objective to estimate the frequency of post COVID sequelae and subsequently, design a framework for holistic management of post COVID morbidities.Methods Follow-up data collected as part of a registry-based observational study in 31 hospitals across India since September 2020–October 2022 were used for analysis. All consenting hospitalised patients with COVID-19 are telephonically followed up for up to 1 year post-discharge, using a prestructured form focused on symptom reporting.Results Dyspnoea, fatigue and mental health issues were reported among 18.6%, 10.5% and 9.3% of the 8042 participants at first follow-up of 30–60 days post-discharge, respectively, which reduced to 11.9%, 6.6% and 9%, respectively, at 1-year follow-up in 2192 participants. Patients who died within 90 days post-discharge were significantly older (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.03), with at least one comorbidity (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.35), and a higher proportion had required intensive care unit admission during the initial hospitalisation due to COVID-19 (aOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.06) and were discharged at WHO ordinal scale 6–7 (aOR: 49.13 95% CI: 25.43, 94.92). Anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (at least one dose) was protective against such post-discharge mortality (aOR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.03).Conclusion Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experience a variety of long-term sequelae after discharge from hospitals which persists although in reduced proportions until 12 months post-discharge. Developing a holistic management framework with engagement of care outreach workers as well as teleconsultation is a way forward in effective management of post COVID morbidities as well as reducing mortality