BEYOND UNIVERSAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME: A STUDY ON THE AWARENESS OF CAREGIVERS AND UTILIZATION OF OPTIONAL VACCINES IN CHILDREN AGED 18-35 MONTHS IN KANPUR

Background: In India, the newer vaccines are at present being offered as ‘optional vaccines’. Studies regarding optional vaccines in India are scarce and parents need to make informed decision regarding administration of these vaccines. Objective: (1.) To assess the knowledge of optional vaccines among caregivers of children attending the outpatient department of Pediatrics. (2.) To assess the utilization of optional vaccines in children aged 18-35 months attending the outpatient department of Pediatrics Design: Cross-sectional Study Setting: Outpatient department of Pediatrics, in 2013 Participants: 342, Systematic random sample Results: The overall knowledge about the optional vaccines was poor with 68.4% of the respondents having no knowledge regarding any of the optional vaccines. All the optional vaccines were prescribed and administered at the private hospitals except 40% of the MMR vaccine. A significantly higher proportion of children from urban locality, general caste, upper socioeconomic class, birth order of less than 2 and having parents with higher education were immunized with optional vaccines than their respective counterparts. Conclusions: It is time for looking into the issues of newer vaccines for the control of emerging childhood illnesses.